Saturday, May 4, 2013

(Virtual) Field Trip: Video on Barb Rentenbach, an author diagnosed with nonverbal autism.


Stream of consciousness on Barb Rentenbach…

Whoever recorded this for the University did a horrible job with the audio….I can barely hear it… ok so maybe this is more about watching and seeing how she types? Maybe I don’t need the audio. It’s obvious she’s struggling. And she just yelled “Just a minute!” several times. I really wish I could hear more of what her assistant was saying. I feel like she’s probably giving a lot of information that would be useful for me to know about Barb’s writing process. Oh wait, I just figured out how to fix the audio. Just in time. That’s awesome how Barb uses facilitated typing and communication. I wish the presenter would just play the slideshow…aaaand there it is. HA! She’s motivated by hot guys. Me too girl. Wow, I can’t imagine taking hours to put together a PowerPoint. That has to be frustrating. The first video about justice (“Connection”) is starting and the narrator is talking about how Barb sees herself. That’s pretty descriptive and uses a lot of sophisticated language, but it’s rough too, really depreciating and raw. I wish I could see more of the video and not just hear it. It is interesting how these other people are reading her words… interesting emphasis on her truly poetic language…I don’t like that she refers to herself and others like her as “autistics”… that flies in the face of what we learn in our special ed classes and people first language… (She has autism…not she is autistic). So much of what she’s focusing on is her physical appearance. Interesting. Evolution’s effects on human friendships and relationships. “Autistics have a very hard time making unpaid friends” “It’s hard to find good help in dystopia.” Refers to people without disabilities as “normals.” Hm. Not sure how I feel about that. Okay, I’m going to watch/listen for a while….

“What is God? What is friends?”
Don’t be afraid to have genuine curiosity and get to know people with autism. Let them know you genuine want to know.

I hear her yelling off to the side…”Just a minute!” again… how appropriate considering they just talked about people with autism needing time

She tells them it won’t work if they’re all mute. Ha. What did people think about the friendship? She’s yelling again…I can’t hear what she’s saying…  I’m sure that the live audience is feeling a little tense… Nobody seems comfortable in asking questions. That could just be because they’re in a big auditorium full of people, but I’m sure part of it is also because they’re not sure how to interact appropriately. It’s interesting to watch the two interact with the communication support. TALK IS NOT CHEAP FOR BARB. Words are time consuming and expensive. Makes sense. She uses them well…speaks more eloquently in her writing that most people I know.

Part two: Teacher Please
I’m sure this segment will be really interesting since it has to do with teaching children with autism.
Supported typing/communication…accept and move on.
Don’t talk at. Be peaceful in companionship
Don’t shelter from the anxiety and effort that the rest of the class is required.

There sure is a lot of religion involved in her thoughts… I’m intrigued…but a little confused in where this is going. I’ve kinda zoned out a couple of times….Ahhh. enslaved by autism…interesting… religion vs. science/reason… right of life/quality of life?



Wow, overall that was really cool. I’ve always wondered about the typing/communication supports, so that was cool to see that in action. Also, I think Barb has a super spunky personality, and anyone would be blessed to have her as a companion.

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