“Language is not efficient
communication for me,
but alas, it is
the only socially acceptable channel
at this time. Like my typing,
human evolution is slow.
”
Lucky for me, I am PATIENT ~ Barb
people curious about my abilities. “Can you
read?” is a common question. I am not offended
– OK, maybe a little, but here is the deal:
I read well one word at a time if the font is at
least size 18. However, I prefer to take a mental picture of the page and file it so that I may
consider it and recall it at my leisure. The most
efficient way for me to take in written information is to hear it. When I listen to audiobooks,
my prized Great Teaching Courses, or someone
reading aloud to me, I go into my half-shell. I
pull my shirt over my head or, if feeling unusually puritanical, I lower my head in my hands or
a lap pillow so that my vision processes only internal stimuli. I would simply close my eyes, but
they do not reliably stay shut as “simply” is as
uncommon in my design as fatal bowling injuries. I use all my energy to process heard words
into visual representations and file accordingly.
If I have to read the words first, it requires a
double translation from the 26 visual symbols to
word chunks and then again to visual scenes of
meaning.
Once you understand how you think best, I recommend taking charge of your own enrichment
and environment. I was at school but never in
school. The mind is a beautiful place to be.
----ZOOM: When did you start using Facilitated
Communication?
Barb: 1992. I was nineteen years old and had
just returned from Syracuse, New York, where
my parents met my mind for the first time in
seventeen years. I’d had an early debut, but then,
just before I turned two, my humanity went
into hibernation. Thinking ceased to build upon
itself. That is when Barbara Ruth filled in for
me and went into survival mode. Each moment
was a confusing ambush, and she sought only
to gulp the next breath of fleeting clarity. Words
changed all that, and my parents bought those
in upstate New York. It was a sweet purchase
– a two for one: words and a daughter with a
30
ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
The Rentenbachs: Niece Augusta, Smother, Beautiful me, DD, Nephew John, and Big Bro Tim.
mind fitted for external communication. Some
purchases change the world. I often write that
I study history to know what is probable. I also
study history to know what is possible. Consider the Louisiana Purchase and the consequent
Lewis and Clark’s boundary mission “Corp of
Discovery.” They were able to circumnavigate
great falls by the Shoshone Chief Cameahwait
connecting with his
sister, Sacagawea,
in Shoshone, who
is a tidy job,
then spoke to her
French Canadian
but
husband, Charbonneau, in Mandan,
who then talked in
French to Jusseaume (another interpreter), who communicated
to Lewis and Clark in English. Gifts were exchanged, and everybody got what they needed.
“Being a muse
somebody
has to do it.”
You will discover that you can find a way to
communicate. Then you too will exchange gifts
and may achieve your destiny.
Conner: How did you meet?
Barb: DD hired headhunters. Next thing I
knew, we had a family interview with a “highly
recommended specialist.” Turns out that it was
just baby doc SS in a flashy new sports car. I
decided to keep her.
----ZOOM: Did you both click right away, or did it
take some time?
Barb: When typing takes so much time and
energy, it is wise to recycle. Please allow this
excerpt from I Might Be You to set the stage.
Next, I was to get to know the smiling shrink. The
following Monday, we went on a solo mission to
Wendy’s fast-food restaurant, where I conducted
many experiments on the eager young shrink. First,
repulsion—would she be able to withstand the
public embarrassment of dining with a growling Neanderthal who devoured both portions of cow? She
ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
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