non-speaking Archives — THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO AUTISM

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The Telepathy Tapes Is Such A Hot Mess

February 9, 2026 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

The Telepathy Tapes podcast, and its premise of non-speaking autistics not only reading minds but bringing the world messages of love and peace, is a hot, complicated mess—but not for the reasons you may think.

Oil painting of a sad child with short curly brown hair and brown skin, on a blue background, hugging a toy monkey.

Therapists: Stop Traumatizing Autistic Children With Speech Demands

May 15, 2023 • By Ann Memmott

Autistic children only get one childhood, and they deserve properly qualified and properly experienced professional teams. Teams that consider autistic ways of communication, ethics, human rights, and potential harms very carefully indeed.

“Self-Injurious Behaviors” (SIBs): Let’s Discuss

February 8, 2013 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Ariane Zurcher emmashopebook.com I’m continuing to research SIBs, which stands for “self-injurious behaviors.” It’s far too complex a topic to tackle in a quick 800-1000 word post. There are a number of topics it seems important to discuss, which all fall under the heading of “self-injurious behavior.” (Feel free to add more in the comments

A Video Explanation From a Nonspeaking (at times) Autistic

September 26, 2012 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Paula C Durbin-Westby paulacdurbinwestbyautisticblog.blogspot.com I am not a completely nonspeaking Autistic, of course. Many people have seen me speak and some do not even know that I lose speech at times. My loss of speech is temporary, and can last a few seconds to a few hours or the good part of a day. Sometimes

Poetry: My Voice, My Life

July 4, 2012 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Amy Sequenzia Amy is a self-advocate who types her thoughts. The poem below is from her recent book of poetry My Voice: Autism, Life and Dreams. Please contact Amy to acquire your own copy of her book. My Voice, My Life Look at me. Go ahead, take a good look. What do you see? Weird?

Kate Winslet’s Autism Awareness Project: The Golden Hat

February 13, 2012 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Carol Greenburg, Shannon Des Roches Rosa, and Jennifer Byde Myers www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism editors Carol, Shannon, and Jennifer recently attended an event celebrating the work of Kate Winslet. Kate has a new autism awareness and fundraising book coming out next month called The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism. We were told