DEAR EDITOR:

April is Autism Awareness month. My 27-year-old son has autism. I have been raising awareness since he first was diagnosed at age 2. A lot has changed in the awareness camp in 25 years. What was once known as Aspergers has been lumped in with classic autism. It’s unfortunate, because neither end of this supposed spectrum is being served well with this change. They are very different conditions.

Another change is we no longer are supposed to raise awareness — we are supposed to accept autism. Accept a condition that was extremely rare and estimated to affect 1 in 10,000 in the 1970s, to now affecting 1 in 36 children? This is an astronomical increase.

My son, like many others, is a non-speaker. Imagine not being able to speak? He suffers from apraxia of speech and movement. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Apraxia is the loss of ability to execute or carry out skilled movement and gestures, despite having the physical ability and desire to perform them. Apraxia results from dysfunction of the brain’s cerebral hemispheres, especially the parietal lobe (which is involved with movement coordination and processing sensations such as taste, hearing and touch), and can arise from many diseases or damage to the brain.

It’s a brain-body disconnect, if you will. Imagine not being able to control your body to do what you want.

If you have a child or know of a child who suffers from apraxia or is an unreliable speaker, I want you to know about a very exciting program that is helping these children and adults learn to communicate. It’s called Spell to Communicate, or S2C. A new documentary called “Spellers” is hitting theaters in private screenings and also online viewings this month. Go to Spellersthemovie.com to find more information. Spellers was inspired by the book “Underestimated — an Autism Miracle” by J.B. and Jamison Handley.

I wish I knew about this program 20 years ago. It is such a shame that non-speaking autistic people have been left in a prison of silence and viewed as being cognitively deficient when they are actually insightful, funny, caring and kind. They have a lot to say and are extremely intelligent. They just need help unlocking their voices.

If you are in the Youngstown area and are interested in learning more or working with a trained S2C practitioner, please email Hannah at jablonski1802@gmail.com.

ANDREA KELLER

Canfield