'I am here': Silenced by autism, young man finds his voice - very electric toothbrush

METAIRIE, La. (AP) --
Benjamin Alexander could not speak, but he was determined to be heard.
Without a hand to support him, he was unable to type, yet his inner voice shouted out his thoughts while he was writing and writing.
He repeated his return to the "demon" who tried to silence him, which he ironically called a "gift" of autism.
"Who did this gift come from? He once wrote.
"Please take it back.
"Ben is a junior at Durham University, majoring in English and is 3 years old.
GPA and a computer full of papers, one published in a local magazine and the other on the university's news website.
He wants to help educate people about autism and challenge stereotypes.
It's not easy because he still needs some help when he's typing, which causes some people to have doubts about him over the years.
On the most recent Evening Ben's father sat him in front of the keyboard and put his hand under his son's arm.
He squeezed Ben's forearm gently, and this subtle movement made him move.
Ben began to knock the key with one finger. "I . am . not . stupid . as . some . people . used . to .
Think about it, Ben typing.
He untied his arm from dad's arm and played himself for a while, causing the computer to read each word in the robot sound he didn't like but needed.
"I want people to know I'm here," he added.
"Other people with autism have also achieved remarkable results, but this is far beyond expectations.
From the age of 8, a simple one
The word reaction of flowering results.
When he was 10 years old, his first article
My life adventure-
Won the state Writing Award in Louis Anna.
He is now 22 years old and his writing is a channel for expressing strong opinions, anger, pride in his achievements and desire for more.
"When I started typing and communicating, my life started," he wrote in an early article . ".
"I can tell you my story now. "---
As the sun rises from the leafy streets of the outskirts of New Orleans, Ben's parents, two surgeons, started their day earlier than he did.
They joked that they had not slept for 20 years because of their son's erratic sleep habits and their own harsh schedule.
This morning, Alan Schneider walked into her son's room, decorated the ceiling with a tribute to his beloved New Orleans Saints football team, and awakened him for his day on campus. "Come on, B-man.
"She took him to the bathroom with an electric toothbrush.
"Oh, you are so beautiful," she said, as she looked at his wide tan eyes and wiped his beard face with a towel.
Ben is not tall, but he is strong.
His mother is small in size and he is no longer able to guide him personally when he feels pain.
His father therefore accompanied him in Duran and other public places.
Ben was calm after taking the medicine this morning.
All drugs from seizures to anxiety.
For breakfast, he laughed at himself while eating apple slices and bread: "Wow, well, well, bip.
"At some point, the soft voice seems to be involuntarily, self.
Appease others.
This daily existence, accompanied by many ups and downs, tests his determination to succeed --
Both parents have thoughts and are 55 years old.
His mother is an eye doctor and his father is an obstetrician.
They also have two daughters, Hillary Clinton, 25, and Lacey, 15.
"We treat the disease with our hands. We cut it out.
"If this is something that needs to be removed, we will remove it," said his father, Sam Alexander . ".
But Ben's condition is, "We can't do that.
Nevertheless, they have long refused to accept the idea that their son would never have much value.
"Ben, we're going to fix this," she remembers to say to her young son as his mother watched him twist in frustration.
At the time of birth, there was no indication of any problem.
Home video shows a smiley face, chubby-
The cheeky boy with red hair and curly hair just started to form words.
"Hello," he seems to say in a video after picking up an old phone receiver.
However, Ben lost his first few words in the coming months.
He no longer looks at other people's eyes.
His parents often find him turning around in a corner.
The doctor initially told them to be patient and it was not uncommon for some children to postpone the speech.
But when Ben was about 1/2 years old, the diagnosis they were worried about was Autism.
It is often referred to as a general developmental disorder, accompanied by seizures, which worsened during adolescence, as is his erratic behavior.
"I want to use the word autism just to have such a terrible, terrible connotation," his dad said . ".
"It feels like he's dead.
Ben never spoke again.
When he was a child, he began to run away.
Once he took off from his grandparents' house, passing through the sprawling live oak trees and lush bushes, to the edge of Interstate 10 where his crazy father found him and
Ben later wrote that running was his attempt to "get rid of autism.
"Although his parents advised them to keep their expectations low, they stayed up late and went online for help.
They took him from an expert to Miami, Boston and Chicago and tried many recommended treatments.
As a preschool, Ben is hesitant about "applied behavior analysis" in which repeated tasks for autistic patients are rewarded --
For example, arrange the blocks in the requested mode.
For Ben, the rewards are often goldfish cookies. "I hate f---
He wrote in an article that he used salty language that often appeared in his written work and conversation.
In training, he felt like an animal.
He finally saw it.
Stanley Greenspan
A child psychologist in Maryland uses a technique called "floor time" that gives Ben the independence he craves.
He can launch this activity with his parents or therapists who will solve the problem
Solve the game with him on the floor.
Ben recalled in his article how doctors in blue jeans and Birkenstocks encouraged him: "It doesn't matter how fast you get there as long as you get there. "---
Ben's parents said they felt his abilities very early.
When he was a child, he used a book made by his mother, pointing to photos of the zoos, parks and other places he wanted to go.
He studied letters for autistic students in kindergarten and another school that his parents helped.
His parents often read to him.
They didn't know that he was still searching around the house for books, including his sister's math textbooks, and even a lot of "doctor's desk references ", he remembered the names and uses of some drugs from above.
Ben's parents heard that there was a non-verbal boy in India who was writing poems about his autism, and they wanted to know: what if Ben could communicate in this way?
So they try to promote communication, which is a controversial method in which the other person supports the typist of a person with non-verbal autism and helps him "speak" using a computer ".
One afternoon, dad asked 8-year-
Old Ben has a problem.
"Who is the president of the United States? ""G-e-o-r-g-e-w-b-u-s-
According to the father who supported his typist, Ben typed on a portable keyboard.
"You won't believe what your son just did," Sam Alexander told his wife on the phone . ".
These days, when Ben is typing, dad usually only needs to hold his forearm loosely, or he puts his flat hand on his son's wrist to stabilize him at a higher anxious moment.
As his parents described, Ben has a "motor planning problem" which means his brain knows what to do, but the connection between knowing and executing has somehow been lost.
For some reason, they say, human touch and verbal cues help bridge this connection.
He seemed to point his finger to a specific key while typing.
His eyes turned from the keys to the screen.
Although his parents also pointed out the mistakes, he often saw and corrected his mistakes.
Because Ben needed more physical support in the early days, some people didn't believe he was typing in his own ideas.
His parents said they included administrators at the private school he attended.
So he transferred to a public school, which was the responsibility of Judy nordford, a special education teacher.
She had doubts at first.
She heard about some cases.
This means that parents often guide their children to type
Repeated criticism of convenient communication.
Nodurft received training in support of typing at a research institute at Syracuse University in New York, and after working with Ben, he became a believer.
At first he gave her a hard time.
"You need to go," an unwatched Ben typed to Nodurft in a video of his mom preparing him for the third grade at a meeting.
"I'm not going now," said nordford calmly but firmly.
Over the years, it has been known that "Miss Judy" is both a second mother and a task supervisor.
"You're too hard," Ben recently typed when Nodurft visited his home. She chuckled.
The work of Nodurft began to pay off.
When Ben was 10 years old, his adventure in life article was compiled from his answer to his mother's question about his sense of autism, bringing him the honor of state writing. Who are you?
Why are you spinning?
Why don't you look at me sometimes?
In simple words
It doesn't make sense for mom to tell him what it is, or point out mistakes in spelling and punctuation --
Ben told the reader that he needed a person to think, and it was often difficult for him to look into her eyes, even "painful ".
Still, he wrote, "I can't wait to start my life. "---
Today, Ben lived the life of college students.
After breakfast, he lay on the sofa watching TV until his father came back from the morning surgery to take over, and his mother began her own practice.
It's time for Ben to take the music history exam.
Dad put on his son's shoes and tie him, and then they went to Duran.
In his class Ben and his dad sit together and often sit in the corner at the back and can easily reach the exit.
Sometimes his father puts his hand on Ben's mouth to keep him quiet or to push him to the discussion.
Should have burst out once in a while, or just loud enough to distract, his father would have taken him out of the room for a few minutes to calm him down.
Ben is more often in class. Click on the laptop mouse and the computer voice will announce: "Speak!
"He raises his hand when he has questions or comments.
In this semester's screenwriting class, he contributed to the discussion of the film social network.
"I like it because I find it ironic that a socially incompetent person has built a social network," Ben said through his laptop voice . " The coach nodded and agreed.
The young man who did not speak also expressed his thoughts on writing a dialogue and maintaining it. Dr.
Paul Lipkin, director of the Interactive Autism Network at the Kennedy Creek Institute in Baltimore, said that only 10% of autistic patients do not have real language, and most people have low levels of intelligence.
While many experts point out that debunking research helps communicate, Lipkin is less skeptical, even if Ben seems to be "very rare ".
"As doctors," he said, "We never say forever.
"Ben was the first non-verbal autistic patient to attend Tulane, and the administrators and professors said they never had a reason to doubt his abilities.
As the US Disability Act requires more access to higher education, like many other universities, the University has found ways to accommodate more students with special needs.
The university's accessibility office arranged a meeting to introduce Ben and his father to each new professor.
But Xiao Na Foss, an assistant director who already knows Ben well, said that's the problem.
"He doesn't want to be seen as a monster or a liar," she said . ".
Thomas Baylor, associate professor of creative writing with this class, said he also said that he quickly bypassed the "exotic" of this condition and judged him based on the merits of his work.
"Sometimes he's not that interesting, and it's interesting in itself," Beller said . ".
He means that Ben's writing is usually good, but it is also a work in progress.
There, he is the same as other students.
"I don't want to rate him as an autistic person. "---
His dad said Ben, as a writer, focused on completing an article and spent more than a week.
Sam Alexander said he brainstormed his father's thoughts, but in the end, writing was his son's.
Mom added with a smile: "Ben's writing is much better than Sam's.
"Ben uses predictive word processing software that allows him to select from the word list after typing a few letters.
Sometimes he writes novels, such as short stories from Hurricane Katrina, which he says is a novel.
Prose, however, is his favorite form.
His writing has become more mature over the years. and raw.
An article published last year was a speech written for his mitzvah.
"I am very angry with God. I still am.
When fire and sulfur come out of my computer, I let everyone on my mitzvah know how it feels.
Rabbi asked me to make it smaller in advance.
I can't use this language in synagogue. I didn't care.
This year, at the advice of his father, Ben wrote an article about an extraordinary meeting.
And the dialogue of change.
Using his voice simulator, he spoke to one of his heroes, Steve Gleeson, a former Saint player who now suffers from muscle atrophy lateral cord hardening and is also helping with computers
They started with a humorous exchange, and detailed in this article: "Ben, where are you from? ' asked Steve.
"I'm from New Orleans. . . .
Can't you see my accent?
When Ben shared his anger, the conversation became serious and asked, "Can you tell me how you have maintained such a positive attitude ? "?
How do you deal with setbacks?
How do you make your computer scream?
Gleeson replied that he had found the purpose by helping others build the foundation for him and his wife.
"Whether a person believes in God, destiny, or destiny, I think there is an inherent pursuit of meaning and purpose within most people," Gleeson typed . ".
"So, I think what opportunities can I find in the seemingly tragic environment that we may experience.
"Dad remembers when he came home after that conversation.
This is more meditation than usual.
Gleeson seems to have got his phone on.
The article, published on Duran's "new wave" news website, caused an email to thank you.
You are mentioned in this article by Ben's freshman writing professor.
Anne wrote: "It's not your responsibility to teach me disability, but I appreciate it when you teach . "
The latter Mary mark
Dr. Du Lan, Department of English.
Some students also responded.
Owen Ridgefield recognized Ben from the photo of the article and greeted him on campus.
Richfield later said: "There are so many people who can speak loudly, but can't find their voice, and in fact he has found his voice.
He's really talented.
"Yes, I could have communicated.
But he wants more.
A person goes to class, plays sports teams, or asks a friend to pick him up for a party and get drunk together.
He hopes to date a female classmate he worships from afar.
This desire to connect is deeply rooted.
Heather Holder, one of his best friends, recalls,
Ask them to write their grade homework in the future.
"Ben wrote that for 20 years he has found a way to treat autism, has grown his hair, and has written a book about it," Held said . ".
"At a signing meeting, we got back in touch and fell in love.
In his story, we got married and gave birth to three children.
"It's one of the sweetest things I 've ever read.
"She said that she only wanted Ben to give his OK to announce that confidence and he did.
This is not a trivial matter.
Ben may not be willing to show vulnerability.
"This is a very sensitive person," he typed in an interview and then stared intently for a while.
He often does this when his computer is reading his words.
It's like he's making sure you understand. and believe -
This sentence is really his.
People who know him best say that if he trusts you, it will be decided soon.
Good luck if he doesn't.
For many days Ben will still be frustrated by his actions.
He said that people see him slapping or grasping, and sometimes they pull their distance out of fear.
For others, behavior and manners show their confidence openly. . . . .
He wrote in an article: "I don't know if my laptop shows confidence, but it does help me overcome the damage that this insidious gift has caused me.
He summed up his feelings with a lot of phrases: "Autism is terrible.
"However, he often recalled his conversation with Gleason, who assured him that it was normal to question the meaning of his life. Ben was amazed.
"I only dream of normal.
This normal situation is that I speak through my own mouth, do not need the help of the school, and even be able to take care of myself in my daily work.
Unfortunately my normal is autism, and the question is why?
Gleason told Ben he could be a role model for other people with autism.
Ben said in an interview that he knew it was true.
"I'm not a poster boy with autism.
But I hope people can hear us.