Finding a voice

Twenty years ago, if Nathan Kaplan, 14, had been alive, he wouldn't have been able to tell you what the weather was like. He would have known perfectly well that it was sunny and warm, but as a nonverbal child with autism he wouldn't have been able to say "sunny," as he communicated last week.

He pushed a button on a machine with a number of pre-recorded phrases and words.

"What are you eating, Nathan?" his teacher asked.

The Jordan Valley student pushed a button on a touch screen. "Popcorn," the speakers answer.

Thanks to the device, teachers also learned that he likes green M&Ms, a lot.

The word "more," came from his device a number of times. Then he was done.

"I'm finished," he messaged. And after being asked to answer more questions he hit the "I don't want to" button and then shut off the device. Enough was enough.

In the past three decades, with the help of technology and research about specific disabilities, devices for nonverbal individuals have improved by leaps and bounds.

Speech pathologist Rita Bouillon, who is also the principal at Jordan Valley School, said a multitude of disorders can render a child with no ability to communicate verbally — cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and multiple disabilities.

"Twenty-five years ago these kids would have been considered unteachable and unlearnable," said Bouillon. "There are assumptions made, if they can't say it then they don't understand it, but we know that they understand a whole lot more than we would have thought."

She said years ago most communication for students who were nonverbal was through pictures, motions and behavior. But drawing pictures for each need takes time, and guessing can become frustrating for everyone.

Special education specialists say computer devices like voice output machines, voice synthesizers, language keyboards and even picture exchange communication systems have greatly improved disabled students' communication and access to education.

"If a student throws a fit then they are telling us that they need something. But those behaviors are maladaptive, they don't fit in and they look out of the ordinary when they are out in the real world," Bouillon said. "If they can communicate those things with a device then it makes them fit in better with their peers and their neighborhood community and their family."

Salt Lake residents Donna and Rick Spivey adopted their daughter, Krista, who has autism, from Lithuania when she was a toddler.