I was so wrong about autism (thank God!)

I no longer believe nonspeakers with autism are suffering from cognitive challenges, this turns our whole understanding of autism upside-down

J.B. and Jamie Handley, Big Island, 2021

My 19-year-old son Jamie is sitting at the desk in our home office, directly in front of a computer screen where Dana Johnson, an occupational therapist based in Tampa, Florida, is guiding Jamie through a process she calls “self commands.” I’m sitting to Jamie’s right, laminated letterboard in hand, serving as Jamie’s “CRP,” an acronym familiar to the brave few undertaking a new communication method for nonspeakers with autism like Jamie known as Spelling 2 Communicate (“S2C”), which happens to be the subject of a new book co-written by me and Jamie that was released by Skyhorse Publishing in April 2021. To our great joy, the book has led to an overwhelming number of nonspeakers and their families giving S2C a try, and many new stories of children attaining fluency and being able to share with their families—for the first time in their lives—true thoughts and feelings. (By the way, CRP stands for “Communication and Regulation Partner.”)

On the d…