Hi! My name is Ian. I am a college graduate and a pretty darn good writer! I am also autistic and non-verbal. You can sample some of my writing or find my resume by following my links. Also, below is a series of interviews with people and how they communicate with me, just to give you an idea about me. Take a look!
On the following pages are seven interviews with people who know me and have communicated with me. Some have known me all my life and some have known me for only a few months. Some are family members, some are teachers, some are fellow students and some are friends. The purpose of these interviews is to explore the ways in which people communicate with me and I communicate with them.
These communications are truly intercultural in nature. My culture is the culture of the handicapped world in which "what you see is not necessarily what you get." It is a culture where communication is a long, laborious task at times. It is a world in which most of the rules of "normal" communication don't apply. My mode of communication is called Facilitated Communication (FC). I need someone called a facilitator to provide human touch, usually to my hand or shoulder, which allows me to point to letters one at a time and spell out my thoughts.
Those being interviewed aren't handicapped and can talk, which I can't do. They can control their bodies in a normal fashion, which I can't do. Theirs is a very different culture than mine.
These interviews show many different ways in which compromise is needed in order to enable effective communication between them and me. Whether communication is through my facilitator or between my facilitator and me or without FC, both sides must make accommodation for the other. Many times the communication is only partially successful. In the end, they and I become members of a new culture in which we can communicate with each other.
I will insert comments at the end of each interview and summarize at the end. The interview questions are in black and the responses in blue. My comments will be in italics.
I've known Ian about a year. Chris (my wife) was in a class with Ian - Modern Russia. Mass Communication Law is the first class I've had with Ian.
No
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
How did you or others communicate with Ian
Mostly through Rich and through the little pad there, and through Ian's column.
When Chris was in the Accessing information Library class with Ian, she'd talk about how she thought it was interesting how he communicated. She was trying to figure that out. I thought that was interesting too, as I began knowing Ian a little bit, to be able to read his body language in class. You can't really tell exactly what he's thinking, but I could tell sometimes when he's excited and when he's interested. Of course, I might be misreading him. The opposite is when things look a little boring to him - everybody's got those kinds of actions. I'm trying to be able to read his body language more effectively. I guess I'd like to understand it more, because it's fascinating. Ian is a great mind and for any great mind, it's good to try to understand how the mind and body interact. Sometimes, when you are like us, you just take everything for granted.
I believe Ian likes to learn - driven - but he likes to enjoy some fun too, with some board games, things like that. He is more serious, but definitely not all serious. That stems from assumptions like quietness is seriousness, so that might just be a mistake, too. But I think through Ian's writing in the paper, I can see he takes things seriously, but has a good sense of humor too, so that's well balanced, I think. Sometimes I feel like Ian, where you can't say the words, you have to write them, and sometimes writing them gives you time to formulate yourself and to actually explain it to people. Sometimes I know what I'm talking about, but I can't express it through words - saying it - I have to write it, so I think that's powerful to me, writing.
Probably one thing is that I sometimes I talk to you (Rich) more, when I should be talking to Ian. That's a problem I have. Ian, I want you to know that I know you are there and I'm talking to you, but I don't know how to show you particularly. I want to show you - I just don't know how. Patience is good, because you don't get a chance to answer per se and if people don't cut you off, that's also nice too, and I think its good to just listen totally too. Americans are kind of like "Hey, that's nice, goodbye", fast-talking and it's all over.
You (Rich) and Ian are two people and you are his voice too, so you aren't in the way -- I haven't yet grasped that concept yet.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
I think he allows for us being ignorant sometimes to the situation and how to communicate. Not that either one of us is wrong or right, we just have to try to meet in the middle and talk about how to communicate, and I think that's definitely one of the adjustments that he makes - being forgiving of people for their rashness and, sometimes, their impatience.
Ian asks Justin - How can I place more emphasis on reaching out to you?
Maybe one way would be to tell others about your hobbies. I suppose writing, like writing in the paper, or even something as simple as playing games. Find people with mutual hobbies and interests, like finding a group of writing people and talking about certain pieces you have written and bouncing things off of each other, use your hobbies and have fun and do it with people you like. Those kinds of relationships tend to blossom into something more and does end up reaching out to people.
Justin points out a reason people may attribute personality features to me that may be false. I have no control over many of my outside actions like not talking and being quiet, so people may think I am a deep thinker for the wrong reason. He also mentions the main compromise people need to make to converse with me - the willingness to wait until I can reply. He also mentions the other adjustment that people eventually make when they are talking with me. They learn to look at me instead of my facilitator when talking to me.
How are you acquainted with Ian?
He's my brother.
Did you know Ian before he began using F.C?
Yup
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
I think Ian became agitated when he couldn't get his point across to others and that in itself was a kind of communication because that indicated that something was wrong, but he wasn't able to be any more precise than that, so it was kind of a vague communication. He needed something and wasn't able to get more specific than that. He showed his frustration by biting his hand or by yelling, waving his arms, slapping the table - a variety of ways.
How did you or others communicate with Ian?
It's hard to admit it now, but at the time the assumption was that he had a low IQ and that wasn't necessarily totally all with us, so in communicating with Ian a lot of times, we would say "go here, do this" and then when he didn't do it, we got mad at him, which was probably inappropriate and added to his frustrations. There were times when I tried to talk to him and say, "Hey Ian, can you understand me?" and he seemed to listen. At that time it was all theoretical because it felt like there would never be any proof that he could understand you or he couldn't. At the same time, it was like a convenience, when you wanted to believe he understood you, and then you would pretend that he did, but when you just wanted him to do what you wanted, you just pushed him around and made him do it.
After F.C.,
How did Ian communicate with you (with or without using F.C.)?
The key difference after using Facilitated Communication - because I don't facilitate with Ian very often and when I do, we haven't worked together enough that it is a good connection - is now I know Ian understands me and Ian knows I know he understands. He doesn't have to get as worked up or act out to get my attention the way he used to. Just a subtle movement or just getting up and doing something can communicate to me that he needs something or that he understands something, rather than having to deal with it in a more drastic way.
How did you communicate with Ian?
Before FC, it was kind of a matter of convenience whenever you wanted to assume Ian was understanding you or he wasn't, but now, afterwards, you don't have that luxury, because you know he understands you. You know he's contemplating what you are saying and so you've got to talk to Ian as though he could respond to you. In a way, he can respond to you with the way he reacts to what you say.
How easy or tough is it to read Ian's body language?
It's EASY. In one way, it's really easy, because he doesn't have the capacity, or maybe not the desire, to hide what he feels. It's pretty plain. On the other hand, it's not very specific. He could be laughing about what somebody said five minutes ago or something someone said just now and you never really know what he's reacting to, but his reactions are very easy to interpret as to whether or not he is happy or sad or frustrated or amazed - whatever.
How would you describe Ian's personality and how did you determine this description?
I think Ian is a pretty good natured guy. I would determine that description by saying that he doesn't get mad very often, which is a really good thing for someone his size, but even when he couldn't get his point across, it seemed like even at that time his anger and his frustration didn't boil over on an hourly basis or anything. It was still a fairly infrequent thing and that must have been a very, very difficult time for him. He was very patient most of the time and now you hardly ever see him get mad, so he does a really good job of controlling his emotions. He's very, very easy going.
What adjustments do you need to make to communicate with Ian?
I have to remember that Ian can't just instantly respond to me, so we can't just lightly banter like I could with someone else. You have to kind of talk about things a little bit with him, like a couple of times. For instance, I've always talked with him about starting up this web site, which I've never done, so he's probably mad with me because I've never done it. I'll do it eventually. I mention it to him from time to time, and then later when he's in a position where my dad's around or he's with someone who can facilitate, I can ask more about what he thinks about it. When those people aren't around, I'm just describing it to him and letting him have his thoughts about that at that time, and then later when he can communicate, then he can kind of dump out his feedback to me.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
He has to wait until the time is right, so he can facilitate. That's got to be a little frustrating because I'm sure I think of a million, zillion things to say during a given day and just say them when they come out of my mouth, but Ian has to wait until he has a conduit or somebody there for him to feed off of and of course by that time he's probably forgotten what most of those things are. They are not in context. He is definitely very limited when he has to communicate something more specific than "I have to eat" or "I have to go to the bathroom."
Ian says - I should ask Todd to facilitate more often. He does good. How have you tried to facilitate with me in the past?
Fairly infrequently and usually only out of necessity because my dad is not there and we need to know what you want to eat or - most of the time it's limited to a choice between one thing and another thing, like press here if you want sausage and press here if you want pepperoni. We've had exercises with some experts where we have gone through a session where we really worked on trying to facilitate and we had some success pretty much right off the bat. We only see each other every couple of weeks or every month, so that makes it difficult to keep at it. Hopefully, that is something that will change in the future.
What about my algebra class?
Oh yeah, right, I forgot about that. That was early on, shortly after Ian began to go to high school. He was a freshman in high school and Ian had to go to algebra class and Sandy Webb was facilitating for him at the time and she wasn't real keen on algebra, and that affected Ian's confidence in his answers and it became kind of a head game there and it was important that they had somebody - it was near the end of the school year after my college semester was over - and I didn't have any problem with algebra - I went into the class with him and sat with him. Sandy was there too some of the time. Ian and I worked on some of the answers together and I just tried to help him out, because I think he felt a little more confident with somebody there who was also following along with what was going on. That is something that helps him out a great deal, so that's true; I was also involved with that.
Todd was sort of right. I did understand everything, but only when I was paying attention. Now that I can communicate, my part of the adjustments needed to really communicate includes staying alert to the world around me. Other people need to make the adjustment Todd made and look past my outer actions and know I am in here.
How are you acquainted with Ian?
I met Ian as an infant when his family attended the same church as I. His family and ours have been good friends since that time.
Did you know Ian before he began using FC?
Yes
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or others?
As an infant Ian communicated in the usual way. He cried, pointed to objects and used several words to relay messages to us. As the autism developed, we noticed him withdrawing and dropping verbal cues. He would sometimes look toward us or to the object he desired, but he seldom made eye contact. He would frequently scream or bite his hand to let us know he wanted our attention. Many times he would grab objects randomly to get our attention or obtain what he wanted.
How did you or others communicate with Ian?
We usually would try to talk to him just as we did anyone else. Unfortunately, we tended to speak to him as a small child long after he was able to understand our meaning. Often people could be observed talking to his parents or whoever was with him instead of directly addressing Ian. Some people talked more loudly than necessary and others ignored him assuming he would not understand the conversation.
After FC,
How did Ian communicate with you (with and without using FC)?
I was fortunate to be able to use FC with Ian. I supported his hand and wrist and he was able to point to letters on a board or paper to spell out whatever he wanted to say. As time went by, I was sometimes able to sense what he was trying to say with less questioning and prompting and he was able to "cue" me when he wanted to talk. He would nudge my arm or turn my face to his or make a loud noise to get my attention and then would type.
How did you communicate with Ian?
By speaking directly to him and allowing him to reply on the paper or communication device.
How easy or tough is it to read Ian's body language?
Fairly difficult. Often Ian is unable control his impulses to shout or get up and move away from situations. He may be experiencing discomfort physically or emotionally or be agitated by something happening around him. However, he may also be excited or happy and exhibit the same behavior. I found I had to be patient until he could slow his body down and type before I could be sure what he was truly experiencing. As Ian has matured, he is more often able to manage his emotions and respond in an appropriate manner. Yet, whenever new situations occur he needs extra time to adjust. I found if he was prepared as much as possible before any new experience, he was better able to communicate.
Would you describe Ian's personality and how did you determine this description?
I believe Ian to be a very conscientious and thoughtful young man. He cares deeply about people and is especially concerned about family and friends. He is a faithful follower of Christ and exhibits wisdom and discernment beyond his chronological age concerning spiritual matters. He is intelligent, hard working and diligent in whatever endeavor he undertakes. He has a good sense of humor and enjoys laughing with friends. He loves an in-depth conversation and will challenge everyone's thinking with his well thought out views. Ian is a very well rounded individual, enjoying sports, literature, games and movies. I have observed Ian in many different situations, throughout the years. I have observed him as a student, a baseball player, a fellow church member, a friend and while working on committees and projects in the community. Our ongoing relationship has led me to this description.
What adjustments do you need to make to communicate with Ian?
Mainly to engage his attention by speaking directly to him and then being patient as he formulates his answers and types. The communication is much better under quiet conditions when he is less distracted.
What adjustments does Ian have to make to communicate with you?
He must wait for me to read his communication before I can respond appropriately. Also, He needs to be reassured that it is safe to say whatever He wishes to say. Trust is extremely important to him. He also needs to know he is being taken seriously before he will freely communicate.
What Sandy says about my being taken seriously is especially true when it's my facilitator who's not taking me seriously. I gain confidence to communicate from my facilitator and can't spell out anything when I'm not being believed in. Sandy always took me seriously, especially during my chaotic first years of facilitating in school, when she was my facilitator and aide.
I enjoy nothing more than a good conversation even when I'm just listening. If others stop for a second to see if I have something to say, that is a wonderful thing to do. They are compromising by breaking the flow of the conversation to accommodate me.
How are you acquainted with Ian?
I am his father.
Did you know Ian before he began using F.C?
Yes, since the first moment he came out.
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
When Ian was age 0 to 2, he was a pretty normal kid and communicated like all little kids did. He was saying some sentences and liked to point to things in books. His autism kind of kicked in and he lost his ability to communicate and we thought he lost more than that. We weren't sure, because sometimes Ian would look you right in the eye. That was his best way to do positive communication and you would swear he was going to say something, but he never could. He bit his hand a lot, he would lose his temper sometimes. He bit Todd once and Todd bit him back again, which was maybe a normal brothers' communication, I'm not sure. It was pretty hard to know what Ian was thinking. The way he acted a lot of the time, it seemed like he wasn't paying any attention. He didn't look you in the eye very often and didn't seem alert sometimes to what was going on around him. On the other hand, he was very smart about - we didn't want him to be in the kitchen, but if we left that gate open to the kitchen and we turned our back for a minute, he was out there, so there was always some "stuff" that indicated that he was sharper than we thought he was. Other than giving you a hug once in a while or sitting in your lap and acting snuggly, he didn't have a lot of communication techniques - just frustration and snuggling.
How did you or others communicate with Ian?
We talked to him, but we a lot of times didn't assume that he could understand what we were saying, so, instead of saying "hand me that" or "look out" or "do this", we would just help him do it without saying anything because in fact I think he got used to not being asked to do those things and if we did ask him to do them, he wouldn't do it. He just wasn't thinking or listening to what we were saying. In that sense, we didn't really converse with him, but we could talk to him, of course, and he could hear us. We knew he could hear us. Because he couldn't respond, we didn't always know what was going on communicationwise. We did try to be lovable. I held him on my lap until he got too big, things like that. He didn't let a lot of people hug him, but he did let me hug him and I always felt good about that - I tried to use that as a communication tool.
After F.C.,
How did Ian communicate with you (with or without using F.C.)?
Once we started using FC, he began to spell out things when we gave him the support of a hand and touch and he communicated in that fashion. Then, as that got going, people started to know that Ian could communicate and I knew he could communicate and I started talking directly to him in a natural way like he was a 13-year-old instead of a 3-year-old or whatever mode we were using. He began to pay attention better. He would make much better eye contact with me. One thing Ian always did was, when he liked someone, he would go up to them and chuck them under the chin. He tended to do that more afterwards, being more friendly in his way to people, outgoing. He began to do some things independently that he never did before. After he began going to the 5th grade, he went half a day only. He wanted the whole day and so he snuck away and everybody was all panicked. "Where was Ian?"
He made his way all the way across the school all by himself to the 5th grade classroom. Before he joined the 5th grade but after we knew he could communicate, he by himself went into a 3rd grade classroom and sat down in the back row. In those kinds of ways, knowing that we knew he was smart, he felt freer to try other nonverbal ways to communicate. He was a lot less willing to have someone hold his hand crossing the street, things like that, because now he's an intelligent person and everyone knows it. We had to devise new ways to do things like that, because he wouldn't let me hold his arm. Those are the kinds of changes that happened.
How did you communicate with Ian?
I'm his prime facilitator and so we communicate pretty well in terms of he can spell out things pretty fast with me, so I have an edge over most people that way, plus I just treat him differently and, I might add, I treat other people who I've previously thought were mentally handicapped differently - I look them in the eye and I treat them as age appropriate. Ian's and my facilitation has gotten sloppy at times over the years and we do go so fast that others have trouble following Ian's typing. People say that about his other facilitators as well, when they try to watch him type on his board with them. We have gotten to the point where I can hold him by the shoulder and he can spell things out. Then he looks at the board very carefully and goes a lot slower and everybody can follow what he's doing, pretty much.
Ian has gotten a lot more frustrated with me after FC than before, because he can explain what his frustrations are. He got mad at me when I told him how great a high school basketball player I was, because he wasn't very good and he was frustrated about it. When he has frustrations with girls and things like that, he can tell me about it and I can talk back with him. We do a lot of communication that way.
How easy or tough is it to read Ian's body language?
If a person didn't know Ian, it would be really tough to read his body language, but if you know Ian, it's a piece of cake. You can tell when his feelings are a little ruffled; you can tell when he's happy. When he thinks something's funny, he laughs at appropriate times now, which he didn't always used to do. When he was in class in high school, he was famous for kind of rocking and making noises when other people's reports were being read in class, but when his facilitator got up and read his report, he was just as quiet as a mouse. Ian's really pretty easy to read. You know when he's spaced out, because he still tends to do that sometimes, and you can kind of break into that.
How would you describe Ian's personality and how did you determine this description?
Most of the time, he is just a big creampuff. Even though he could do about anything he wanted too, he's courteous and he tries to cooperate with his facilitator, his aides and, most of the time with us. Sometimes he's a little more willing to push his dad around and I can't push back very well. He's also a worrywart. He is very anxious sometimes about things and worries about the future, but not just that. Day-to-day things and how they are going to work out. If he is really anxious, he'll bite his hand, though he almost doesn't bite his hand at all anymore, which is a tremendous change from before FC. Sometimes he's just worried and anxious and, of course, he can tell me. Sometimes he has what he calls pity-parties, but it's because he is concerned, like anyone would be.
What adjustments do you need to make to communicate with Ian?
Sometimes it's very tempting to not communicate with Ian, because I know he has something in mind that I don't want to hear about and if I don't bring the board over to him, he can't tell me, but most of the time I try to be honest about doing that, I have to facilitate, I have to help him point to the words and spell out what his communications are and sometimes that goes well and sometimes it doesn't go so well. We have a lot of adjustments to make with each other. I can talk to Ian directly, but, like everybody else, I have to be patient and wait for his response. You can't expect him to rip off an answer real quick. I have to be careful as a facilitator not to jump ahead and guess what he's saying before he spells it out, because it's easy to guess the wrong thing. At times, Ian lets me go ahead with that wrong guess, if I don't double check backwards. Also, when he's writing and doing his schoolwork or playing games, he's playing games with me, because if he doesn't know the answer, he'll kind of wait to see if I'll give him a hint. So, I really try to adjust to know when I'm not helping him, but taking over control without trying and to know when he's in control. That's the hardest thing for a facilitator, maybe, once you get things going.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
He has to be willing to sit down and spell out things for me. Sometimes when he doesn't feel like doing his schoolwork and things like that, we have to do a little work to get to the point where we are both willing and able to communicate. Ian goes around in life with an adult with him every moment, watching every move and he doesn't get to goof off like he'd like to, I'm sure, and like anyone else does. Sometimes he wants to goof off and he adjusts by sitting on his hands and not facilitating or by running over top of me. Most of the time, Ian is a real easygoing guy and makes a real effort to accommodate himself.
Ian says - I love your description of facilitation. How do you know when I'm letting you take over?
Sometimes it's just kind of obvious because you stop helping me and I'm kind of "Whoops, I'm in the middle of a word and not feeling any guidance" from you. Sometimes I get really suspicious if what I'm thinking is what comes out every time. Sometimes people are going to sit together and they are going to have common thoughts because they are thinking about a common subject, so that would not be surprising. Sometimes I'm sure you pick up a word that I have in mind, one of my words, just because it's a strange word to be in that situation. To adjust to that, I stop and ask Ian "Is that what you meant?" I try to do a lot of "Was I right?" kind of thing and sometimes I just say "Ian, that wasn't you." We'll go back and do it over.
The best thing in this interview is the long, kind description of my childhood. The most revealing is the description of doing facilitation and of the description of how I sometimes try to goof-off. The compromises made on both sides of the facilitation process are hard to learn and require a lot of careful effort. Most important is the facilitator's faith in me.
How are you acquainted with Ian?
I've been his personal assistant and facilitator for about four and half years.
Did you know Ian before he began using F.C?
No
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
How did you or others communicate with Ian?
After F.C.,
How did Ian communicate with you (with or without using F.C.)?
Well, I guess he communicated with me originally first through Rhonda, and from you and Lyn doing facilitating, and then as I've learned facilitating, we've communicated first with yes and no answers with the communication board. Then I guess with the communication devices, the Canon communicator a little bit, and then the AlphaSmart, but mainly the paper board, but also I guess through non-verbal communication as well, through his body movements sometimes I can tell if he's agitated or upset. And he makes sounds, either happy sounds or angry sounds or concerned sounds.
How do you communicate with Ian?
Well, verbally, I communicate with words, but also I try to encourage him, by a pat on the shoulder or I rub his back sometimes, and hopefully kind of give him gentle cues showing him the direction he should go. Sometimes if he's going in the opposite direction he should be going in, by gently pulling him the other way.
How easy or tough is it to read Ian's body language?
I think it's gotten easier in some ways, but I don't comprehend everything he's saying, but over time as we've gotten to know each other, it's gotten a little easier as we've gone along. I guess one thing I've learned is when he's thoughtful, he puts his hand by his head and he's real still. When he's real quiet, he's pondering things or thinking about things, I know I've learned that. Sometimes he'll act like he has to go to the bathroom and sometimes that means he has to go to the bathroom, or that he's excited or that he wants to get up, that he's tired of sitting. Sometimes he'll indicate that. Sometimes I guess when he's nervous he'll have a lot of movement and he'll rock, that kind of thing.
How would you describe Ian's personality and how did you determine this description?
Well, let's see, I think he's sensitive and he's a thinker, but he's playful and he can be a rascal, too, I think. Sometimes through the board, when he communicates through the board, or sometimes through his writing, and sometimes through his actions, or he just seems gleeful sometimes!
What adjustments do you need to make to communicate with Ian?
Well, I guess I need to try to be more observant, a better listener, be patient with him and use the communication board, which is kind of our intermediary or means that we use.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
I think he sure has to be patient with me when I don't get it. One thing I've noticed lately is sometimes if I'm holding his hand at the wrong part of the board, he'll be thinking of another word, but since I'm so slow, he'll pick a word that's near that side of the board that's quick to spell. Sometimes I think he has multiple possible words that he can use. I think he's accommodating me because I'm not that good a facilitator as far as that goes.
Ian asks Rich - Little time is spent without you in school. How willing am I to do school work?
Well, I think overall, part of one of your favorite verses, and one of mine, is that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and by overall I mean the past four years, but this past year I think you've done great. You've really stuck to it, whether you've felt like doing it or not. Even though sometimes I'm bugging you, you've really shown a lot of perseverance and maturity and you're doing the work whether you want to do it or not. I think you've worked hard this year.
Rich is an example of how long it can take to be a good facilitator and that it can be learned. Rich is also an example of how to treat someone else with respect, which is why he is a great assistant and a great friend. It is easy to be patient with Rich as he learns to facilitate.
How are you acquainted with Ian?
I've had a few classes with Ian, and we pass each other in the hall, things like that.
Did you know Ian before he began using F.C?
No, I didn't.
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
How did you or others communicate with Ian?
After F.C.,
How does Ian communicate with you (with or without using F.C.)?
With FC is definitely through you, Rich, through questions and stuff, and a few times he's used the pad. And without, I think just through like gestures and things like that in class and through smiles and facial expressions.
Usually through talking or through you, using FC.
How easy or tough is it to read Ian's body language?
It's not really easy at times. When he's smiling and laughing and stuff like that then it's easy to know what he's trying to communicate. Like sometimes in class it's kind of difficult. When Ian gets a little antsy in class, we can't always tell what he's thinking.
How would you describe Ian's personality and how did you determine this description?
Ian seems really cool. I know he's really, really intelligent, from his articles and in class writing assignments. They're well structured and well thought out.
I feel like a lot of the time I communicate more to you (Rich), than to Ian.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
Basically, through his intermediary. We haven't really communicated on a personal level through FC.
Ian asks Andy - How can I communicate more?
Just by communicating one on one, like this.
Andy mentions my writing. That is one way I can communicate with others without our differences intervening. My compromise is to write a column in the college paper without fail, meeting every deadline and to be open about myself in the column.
I had Ian in high school. I was his journalism teacher and he took a writing class from me and he was on our campus newspaper staff. And if I remember right, I think he took the design class, so there were two courses, plus the newspaper staff.
Did you know Ian before he began using F.C?
No, I didn't know him at all.
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
How did you or others communicate with Ian?
How did Ian communicate with you (with or without using F.C.)?
I think for the most part his communication was always through the FC. Like in the classroom setting where I would pose questions for the class, he would punch out answers on his tape that would come out and sometimes I would call on him and his facilitator would read them out loud. Other times, I distinctly remember this one time when I wasn't asking a question, I was teaching on something and we got interrupted. A student came in with a slip for the attendance office and Ian was punching out something - it wasn't a question kind of thing, and then his facilitator laughed a little bit, and I said, "Ian, what are you doin'?" And his facilitator read that Ian had typed out, "Ooo, she's cute!" when she walked in! But for the most part, it was questions and answers posed in class, and then when we were on newspaper staff together, a lot of our communication would be that I would write him comments on his columns or his stories, and then he would go back and revise. So a lot of that was even just written back and forth to one another.
How did you communicate with Ian?
Through the written critiques of his stories, and just verbal. I would just talk to him, especially when we were doing the design class, and he was on the computer using the touch screen. I would talk him through key commands or controls on the computer. I would say most of it was verbal - I did a lot through the verbal.
How easy or tough is it to read Ian's body language?
It got easier, and I was figuring it out. I could tell excited or happy. He seemed to move a little faster. I could tell nervous. It was difficult at first. I had to get used to the constant movement in the classroom out of the corner of my eye. But I got used to it rather quickly, and it wasn't a bother for me at all.
How would you describe Ian's personality and how did you determine this description?
I'd say he's one of the most emotionally expressive people - a lot of it again through words, typed out words. He just seemed fun. The kids thought so highly of him and talked about him as being fun and just neat to hang around. He would have conversations with kids - short, little bits. I would describe him as very charismatic, and enthusiastic and passionate in my realm, which was in writing. I just determined his personality through his body language, like we talked about, and a lot of what other kids said of him when they would talk about Ian as being fun or a neat guy, or, "boy, he's a great writer". So, I think a lot of how I interpreted Ian's personality was through other kids, in addition to my own contact with him.
I am by no means a slow person, so I had to adjust to asking a question and then that wait time, and just giving him the time to type out his response. A little bit, at least initially, I had to adjust the stereotype that there's this phenomenally intelligent person inside what isn't the typical physical body, and just realize that the first time he typed out anything - I was floored - I was just amazed - and so just adjusting that stereotype a little bit. I think the biggest adjustment would be that I had to slow myself down as a teacher, not in covering material, but in teaching him individually a technique or something different. So just giving him that wait time to process it, to do it, or to ask me a question back.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
I don't know, Ian, boy you're asking me to remember years back! Well, you had to adjust to the touch screen on the computer when you took that design class. I think that was a little new to you at that time. At the beginning of our writing class, that first class, it was kind of a quiet group, especially the first couple of weeks, I was doing a lot of the teaching and the kids listening and sitting and a little bit of interaction, and so Ian being in there and moving - I think he tried to adjust as much as he could, and I'm sure he's always trying to adjust a little bit, to seem quiet. I would see his facilitator do kind of like Rich just did, kind of touch him a little bit to help him be more quiet.
Ian asks Mrs. Smekens - How did you make adjustments in the class for me during discussion times?
If I remember right we did a lot of whole class discussion, but then we would do some smaller group discussion. I remember several times - and this would tip me off that I was moving too fast verbally as a teacher - I would pose a question, we would be talking, and you would be punching out an answer, and then five minutes or so we'd lose the discussion a little bit, and you had finished your thought to contribute, and the facilitator would say it, which would take us back to that moment, or reiterate, or come up with a new point. A lot of discussions, instead of just moving in a path, they would come back with Ian's thought that he created, and then we'd kind of go in a different direction, then he would sometimes jump in with another thought that we had again moved beyond and came back to. So I think we got a lot deeper with our discussions having you in there. And then when we did the small groups, it wasn't so much my adjustment as much as the other kids that were in your group - I'm kind of speaking for them - they had that wait time where it would be what's your point, what's your point, what's your point, and when it was Ian's point, they would just wait and then your facilitator would read your commentary. An adjustment that in another class period with the same course material, that small group discussion time might take a little less, but in the class that you were in we had to take a little bit longer, so that you could have your full discussion with the rest of the group.
Ian says - Yes, it's hard to wait for the facilitator to finish. How am I doing now? With facilitating (as compared to high school)?
You seem to be more assertive with your speaking, with your communication. I remember that your facilitator in the journalism class would ask if you had anything to say and kind of prompt you, and now it looks like you just let him know, "Hey I got something to say" and just go with it! I think you're doing great! I read just a couple of your columns here while we were waiting for you and they look great.
The way my participation changed the class discussion showed how a new culture can emerge under class conditions when I am in the class. They took longer to finish the discussion but covered new ground because I caused them to have to back up and start over sometimes.
How are you acquainted with Ian?
I first became acquainted with him seeing him around campus with his parents. That would have been before I knew, and before they knew, how he could communicate. I know Ian as the son of a fellow faculty member, and more recently I've had him in three different classes.
Did you know Ian before he began using F.C?
Well, yes I did.
If so, in what ways did you observe Ian try to communicate with you or with others?
I don't think I observed, at least what I understood as his efforts to communicate with others.
No, I can recall thinking and wondering should I direct any comments to Ian when I would meet Ian with one of his parents. I would greet his parents, but typically did not greet and acknowledge Ian. Once I understood something about what Ian knew and comprehended and could take in, also once I understood something about his ability to communicate his thoughts, ever since then I've made a special effort to greet Ian and not just the people who are with him. Yeah, it made a difference to me once I knew the level of his ability to take in information, and once I knew of his ability to respond and give back information.
How did Ian communicate with you (with or without using F.C.)?
Well, I will admit that I do not recognize his intent to communicate with me without FC. They may well be there, I don't pick up on them. With FC, this has been a real joy to me to see what's going on inside his head. I think the earliest time that I recall seeing that is when Ian talked to the chapel gathering and answered questions that went up on the screen as we sat there in chapel - that was just overwhelming! I had read, by then, and knew of his ability to read, comprehend, and take in information and his abilities to communicate in this fashion, but that was the first time that I witnessed it, and it was just overwhelming to realize all that was going on inside his head that I had no idea about. And in the classes that he's taken from me it's been a real joy to see his level of thought and insights that he has and the care with which he thinks about things and evaluates things. One of the classes that I was in, as I typically do, I invite people to put their name on a list if they're willing to pray at the beginning of class, and Ian did, and when it was his turn he wrote out a prayer ahead of time that - I don't know if I read it or if his facilitator read it, but anyway, that's been a real eye opener to me to read and hear what's going on in his mind, not only in class projects, papers and reports, but also in his columns in the newspaper. I always read those with real interest.
How did you communicate with Ian?
Well, I communicate with all my students by written comments on materials that they hand in, so I communicated with Ian that way also. As far as oral communication with Ian, just in passing, not much more than a greeting, "How are you today" or make some comment about the day or something like that. I think I'm remembering from the J-Term class, which was much more discussion oriented - the other two classes that he took from me are more lecture oriented - there were times when Ian wanted to say something in the class discussion, or there may have even been a time when I was asking everybody in the class to take a turn to respond to something, but I can remember that we simply paused and waited while he tapped out a message, which the facilitator gave to the rest of us. I have addressed questions directly to him in that kind of discussion class situation, but most of my communication with Ian I would say has been through his responses to things that he has handed in.
Well, I guess I'm not very good at reading his body language. I've not been around him that much other than in the classes and in the classes I'm not paying that much attention to trying to read body language. If there is body language communication from Ian intentionally directed to me, I'm not picking it up.
I guess his personality has come out most in those columns that he writes for the newspaper. Class assignments tend not to give people the kind of opportunity to let their personality be known. It's more objective analysis and discussion of issues. Even there, with some of the written responses that I expect in some of my classes, I've come to recognize the depth of his spiritual commitment, his love for god, his desire to be strong spiritually, and his desire to have a spiritual impact on other people. From the columns in the newspaper, that's reinforced, plus, just in general, when I read those columns, I don't think of him at all as Ian, the autistic person, because that column is so well written and so clearly about baring his own soul about things. I've come to see him as a friendly, compassionate person who has deep sensibilities and feelings, very much self aware of who he is and how he comes across to people. He desires to bridge the gap between him and other people. I guess it's primarily through his columns in the newspaper that I feel that I've come to know his personality.
What adjustments do you need to make to communicate with Ian?
For me, the main adjustment is to learn to communicate orally with a person who cannot immediately respond orally back. I feel generally more comfortable communicating in writing. If I've got something really important to say, I'd rather think it over and write it down. It's fine with me to communicate the deepest thoughts and most important ideas in writing, which of course is the only way Ian communicates with me and I'm particularly fine communicating back with him that way.
What adjustments does Ian make to communicate with you?
It seems to me that the whole Facilitated communication thing is a tremendous adjustment. He would rather just open his mouth and speak. It has to be a big adjustment that I'm sure by now that he is far less frustrated with than he was at the beginning. Beyond that, I don't see that he needs to make adjustments to communicate with me.
The most important time for the studying of my true self is not in class, because I am trying so hard to stop my noisiness. My body language isn't always easy to read. I know, because people don't always guess the right reasons for my actions. It is best to ask me, though sometimes I don't know myself why I get noisy. I do seem to do well before large audiences, like in that chapel.
While every interview was highly different from every other one, there were common threads running through them. All of the interviewees had to adjust to waiting for a response from me. Those who weren't facilitators had to purposely learn to look at me when talking to me, rather than looking at my facilitator. There was less common describing of facilitation by my facilitators, probably because there is so much to consider. If pressed, each facilitator would agree with what the others had to say about facilitation and I would agree with all of them. Certainly they make many compromises in how they treat me during facilitation, to enable my successful communication. Those who do communicate with me look beyond my outer appearance to see the real me inside. Those who delay their conversation to get my input make a big compromise, but a good one.
My compromises to allow communication involve patience with people's misconceptions until they have a chance to get to know me. I must prove myself over and over again to people. I must willingly do my part in facilitating my communication, including helping new facilitators succeed. I must dare to facilitate in public and risk not being understood exactly right. I must not lose control in public - I scare people when I do. I must keep on writing in the public arena. I need to stay alert to the world around me. I must continue to do public appearances in support of FC.