I want to talk about right and wrong. The right thing to do is to always assume that everyone you meet is competent- the wrong thing is that so many people still don’t make that assumption.

I think if people have hope for other people with disabilities it will help others, like myself, believe in themselves. People sometimes think that disabled people are childish, people need to realize that people with disabilities are intelligent, but really you just need to learn to adapt to the way they learn.

Some assumptions I’ve noticed people make about people with disabilities are that they are not intelligent and are stupid. People don’t think that we understand what they are saying but we do very much know what you are saying. I think people should treat them with respect and dignity and always assume that they are intelligent.

My accomplishments so far at North Central regarding communication are: completing math and passing it with a B, I also completed US History and I have moved on from being in only special ed classes to moving into normal diploma track classes. Moving to regular classes has given me hope that I can have a future.

People should adapt to thinking differently about people with disabilities. People should assume that I am intelligent and they should try to understand my thinking. Hopefully, if they start to do that it will also help other people find their voice that needs to be heard. If I can find my voice other people like me can, too.

I really hope more schools accept that this [facilitated communication] is a real form of communication. I hope more individuals just like me can get their voices going in schools. My hope is that all schools will have this [facilitated communication] as a form of communication.