FORT SMITH, Ark. — A Fort Smith therapist is bringing Spelling 2 Communicate to the Natural State.
It's a program seen nationwide that helps those with nonverbal autism communicate.
Occupational therapist Emily Vernon is the first in Arkansas to offer the program. Vernon brings the program as a therapist from the Griffin Promise Autism Clinic. The Broken Arrow clinic was the first to bring the S2C program to Oklahoma.
"S2C is just another component of giving the individual who's non-speaking an opportunity to show the world what is inside them that they just can't release. Because speech is all motor and they have that disconnect between the motor and the cognition," said Vernon.
The program uses boards with sets of letters with Vernon says, "allows the brain not to be overwhelmed with the next set of boards." As the patient develops, they may decide to add additional boards with punctuation and numbers. They can then add a keyboard with the help of a partner.
"We're really trying to shift this paradigm because these individuals are fully cognitive. So it's just helping and supporting their body to be what they want it to be and giving them a voice," said Torrie Morton, the lead speech pathologist at The Griffin Promise.
When speaking with 5NEWS, she was Jake Wright's partner helping him communicate through S2C.
"He said don't trust the body S2C is where it's at, exclamation point," said Wright through Morton. "They were teaching me my ABCs and cognitively I was planning to be a neuropsychologist."
Morton explained that the program has helped recognize impulsive behaviors. She explained that for Jake, that was plugging his ears, "before spelling, [that was how he said] that things were too loud, he was too sensitive to things, but now he's told her that really it's just a habit. And so he's actually asked us to remind him not to do that.
As Morton explained, this program finally gives kids like Jake a voice after being the best listener in the room.
"I can only learn, so that's what I did," Wright said through Morton. "I can include myself and do things that I also enjoy."
"My mom is my rock and she finally knows me," Wright added.
Anyone interested in the program can apply through the clinic's website.
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