Carly Fleischmann

Watch the video below to see Carly Fleischmann, a girl who could once not communicate, type her thoughts and emotions, and surprise the world with her ability to share her voice. Carly is an inspiration to non-verbal autistic people and to those who thought that people labeled as non-verbal autistic would always be silent.

Carly’s Voice: My reflections

I am currently starting to read the book “Carly’s Voice” by Arthur Fleischmann and Carly Flesichmann. Carly, a teenager diagnosed with non-verbal autism, reveals her inner voice to the world by typing her thoughts on a keyboard.

In earlier posts, I have recommended this book since I have heard such great reviews. I personally respect Carly and have been inspired by her story. I am excited to actually read through her book and to share my thoughts over the next couple of weeks of what I learn.

Carly is the reason why I want to eventually study the language development of non-verbal autistic children. I believe that every child has an inner voice waiting to be unlocked by those willing to be both patient and hopeful. I think we should have high expectations for every child and not lose hope in a person’s ability to communicate. Although communication will look different for all people, we must find a way to decode the messages a child is sending. I question if we should simply overlook hand flapping or stimming as “random”—but view these body movements of a possible way of communication. Gestures, as well as facial expressions, body movement and posture, eye contact, and touch are all types of nonverbal communication. In students who are autistic, I would like society to take notice of the various gestures autistic students make.

Non-verbal body language makes up the majority of a human’s actual communication. In recent studies, I have been surprised to see why more research has not been done studying the body movements of autistic children more closely. Can we possibly find a correlation between the number of hand flaps per minute or the length of a child’s stimming to the way the mind of an autistic child’s brain works?

As I hope must of us believe, the brain of an autistic child is not silent. There is thought, there is feeling, and there is a voice inside that person waiting to be revealed to the world. Our job is to help those children to use their “voice” in a way we both understand.

My hope for 2013 and the years after is for society to look for ways to make more voices be heard. I would love to hear other testimonies such as Carly’s story and find  a way to help many children trapped in their own bodies.

Carly’s New Book: Released Tomorrow March 27th

Carly, a girl with severe Autism, co-authored a book with her father Arthur Fleischmann.  With the help of a computer, Carly is now able to communicate her feelings to the outside world. By using a single finger, Carly has been able to reveal her witty ‘teen-age self’ and has grown to be a role-model and hero to many you now know her. After many months of waiting, the world is waiting to hear the inner thoughts and emotions of Carly. Order your book tomorrow, ASAP!

Teen with Autism tells her story in her new book (please click on link to watch)

 

 

A Deeper Look into the Autistic World: An Incredible Testimony

This is an incredible video that changed the autistic world forever.

Ever since Carly was three, she has had one-to-one therapy that took about 40-60 hours a week. Carly’s parents never gave up on her, despite the slow progress and criticism given by some friends.  Carly had a breakthrough moment and started to type her thoughts one letter at a time at the age of 13. Carly gives great insight to educators and parents alike. Carly’s story is unbelievable and should provide great  hope to the development of understanding autism.

 You can follow Carly on twitter at @Carlysvoice or visit her website http://carlysvoice.com. She has a book coming out called  Carly’s Voice: Breaking Through Autism which will be released March 27, 2012.

Click on the blue link Autistic Girl Expresses Unimaginable Intelligence to watch the incredible video.