Beyond 6 Seconds

How do you get an education when you cannot speak, and the school system does not understand your abilities or support your needs? This was the experience of Ben Breaux, a 22-year-old nonspeaking autistic man with epilepsy who uses a letterboard and a text-to-speech app on his iPad to communicate.  Ben is an aspiring journalist who feels it is very important that non-, minimal- and unreliably speaking autistic people have equal rights, opportunities, and voices in society. He writes and advocates on these topics and more on his public Facebook Page, for numerous autism advocacy groups worldwide, and on advocacy boards and committees in his home state of Virginia and nationally.  During this episode, Ben discusses: What life was like before he learned how to communicate using a letterboard The struggles he faced to earn his education The advocacy work he does for nonspeaking autistic people with two nonprofit organizations, NeuroClastic and CommunicationFIRST    What inspired him to start sharing his writing