In a science class at Lakelands Park Middle School, 13-year-old Mike
Keller sat between his professional aide and his science partner during a
lesson about how force affects balance. The Montgomery County teen, who
has autism, stood up a few times in a burst of energy and once walked
out of the room. But with some redirection from his aide, he appeared to
focus on a series of questions that his teacher posted on the
whiteboard.
His teacher asked him an easy yes-or-no question at
one point, and as an aide held a keyboard in front of him, Mike typed
the word “Yes” on the iPad, followed by a touch of sarcasm: “Duh.”
Mike
is not able to speak. He points at letters on a laminated alphabet
board or types on a keyboard that an aide holds. Nationally, most
students who can’t talk are in self-contained classrooms or autism
programs or, like Mike used to be, in a separate school for students
with severe disabilities.
But five years ago, Mike and his mother
traveled to Texas to explore a novel communication technique called
Rapid Prompting Method that led to what his family describes as a
breakthrough. About a year later, he joined a new pilot program in
Montgomery County Public Schools for autistic students who rely on
keyboards and communication partners...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/parents-of-autistic-children-are-pushing-schools-to-allow-controversial-communication-techniques/2017/02/28/1bd33da2-ed6a-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?utm_term=.1df8072f08f7
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