Twitter Thread: A Speech-Language Pathologist's Affirming Experience

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mattstaff
Jul 18, 2020 10:00 AM EDT

When Rachel R. Romeo found herself seated on a flight next to a kid with severe nonverbal autism, she proceeded to use her skillset to help the kid communicate with another human being. Ultimately, that's what we're all looking for: that connection with other human beings. What a beautiful application of her skills in a real world scenario that called for it. 

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  • 01
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRRomeo I just had such an affirming experience. On my 8hr intl flight back from a conference, I sat next to a father/son. In broken English, the father began to apologize/ warn me that his ~10 yr-old son had severe nonverbal autism, and that this would like be a difficult journey. 1/
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 02
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRR.. · 18h Replying to @RachelRRomeo I told him not to worry, I was a speech-language pathologist with lots of experience with minimally verbal kiddos. Challenging behaviors began even before take off: screaming, hitting me, and grabbing for my things. The father repeatedly apologized, but did little else. 2/
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 03
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRR.. · 18h I asked him how his son preferred to communicate. He didn't seem to understand. Perhaps this was a language barrier, but I think instead the child had very little experience with communication therapy. I put away the talk I was working on & asked if I could try. He nodded. 3/ 9 11 27 705 ♡ 18.1K
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 04
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRR... · 18h I tried to see if he was stimulable for a communication board. I started by pulling up some standard images for basic nouns on my computer but I could tell that screens really bothered him. So I summoned my god-awful drawing skills and tried to create a (very!) low-tech board. 4/ 13 27 680 18.3K
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 05
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelR.. · 18h And by god, it clicked. I made symbols for the things he was grabbing, for his favorite stuffed penguin, and for his dad. He took to it very quickly. I introduced way more symbols that I normally would, but hey, how often do we get an 8-hour session?! 5/ O 20 27 768 O 22.6K
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 06
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRR... · 18h v By the end of the flight, he had made several requests, initiated several times, & his behaviors had reduced quite a bit. The father was astounded – clearly no one had ever tried an AAC approach with him. I gave him the paper & showed him how to use it, and he nearly cried. 6/ 105 27 992 ♡ 28.5K 8
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 07
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRR.. · 18h v This was the human desire for communication, pure and simple. To connect with another person and share a thought. Communication is a basic human right, and I was overjoyed to help someone find it. What a privilege and a gift. 7/ 172 27 2,713 O 48.5K 8
    via @rachelrromeo
  • 08
    Text - Rachel R. Romeo @RachelRR... · 18h v As I face the upcoming job cycle and the nearly endless imposter syndrome of academia, this was precisely the reminder I needed about why I love studying language/communication development. It was a good day to be an #SLP! 8/8 2,387 L7 2,987 94K
    via @rachelrromeo

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