The Power of Voice

The ability to communicate with others is something that many of us take for granted.

But, there are students in our public schools who are unable to communicate using their voice, students who are non-verbal and unable to use traditional communication methods. Are there students in your district who depend upon alternative methods to communicate with their peers or teachers?

Watch these two videos that demonstrate the power of voice using technology. The first video was on ABC News and profiles a 13 year old girl who is autistic. It appears that she is using a laptop computer with WordQ, word prediction software which also offers text-to-speech. Even her father was astonished when she demonstrated her skills using technology. She was now able to read, write, spell and articulate her feelings!

How often are we selling our students short? How often are we presuming capabilities far below what our student's actually possess?

I learned about the second video from Kate Ahern's blog. Watch "My Power is My Voice" here:


For additional videos, go to the Assistiveware website to view effective augmentative communication device use by individuals of all ages.