Dams and Corridors
An S2C lesson on Ecosystem Engineers and a post about the “sport” of Spelling to Communicate.
A peek into my space at The Spelling Studio where MagicPencil stuff (hopefully) gets written on time.
I write S2C formatted lessons. Podcasts on paper for people whose ideas and words are trapped inside of their bodies. Every piece has a purpose. The color coding an intricate stair step of hierarchy that leads crumb by crumb, inch by inch, step by step to the place where the soup of letters stuck like hanging stars in the brain can be grabbed one at a time - on purpose - willfully, and pushed from brain to body and out through the finger.
And then that person is free.
Freedom in the form of communication between people. An exchange of ideas. Mutual understanding. The fullness of thought expressed.
I welcome any and all supports to communication but when I’m asked “why not just use a device with icons…isn’t it faster?” In my own mind, I send that person through a portal to the Grand Canyon and ask them to describe it through an icon based system.
“I like the sunset. It is nice.”
Describe heartbreak to me. Frustration. Grief. Tell me how you feel when you look at the ocean. Tell me how you feel when you are misunderstood.
“Okay, let’s spell ANIMAL”
I see eyes look all the way left. Struggling to fixate. A brand new athlete. They are stuck on the glint of sun that makes a sparkle on the window pane. The hand sits limp on the thigh. Eyes land for moment on the A and the hand lifts, shoulder pulling, fingers folding to isolate a pointer finger, it hovers towards A and the eyes flit away at the last second and the finger lands on B.
Do I see someone who doesn’t know how to spell animal?
A helpful way to think about the acquisition of the skills needed to pair the fine motor of the eyes, left to right, up and down, diagonally, with the movement of the arm and finger to land on a letter then the next then the next is a sport.
This is a sport.
If I teach someone T-Ball. I explain that the ball goes on top of the wobbly pole. Feet are apart. Hands hold the bat. SWING.
If the person swings and hits the pole instead of the ball, do I automatically assume they didn’t understand the concept of T Ball? That they don’t know what a ball is?
Or, do I coach the body? Coach the eyes?
“Watch the ball. Shoulder up. Look, look, swing!”
I celebrate every ounce of effort. Every second the eye is able to linger longer on the Letterboard. Because for my clients. For my children.
This is highest stakes sport they will ever learn to play.
And they will learn. They will practice. Hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Like an athlete. They will make new paths in their brains that connect to their bodies. I know, because I see it unfolding over and over.
The ideas are already there. Intact. Smart. Brilliant. Personal. Age appropriate. Their bodies just won’t obey to express them.
I see successful acquisition of skills across the board with lots of different kinds of bodies with varying support needs. Those who sit frozen, brain screaming to move, body saying NO.
Those who have bodies that WONT STOP MOVING. Who can’t make their hands go where they need them to go.
Sensory seekers. Avoiders. The traumatized. The forgotten. The discouraged. The excited. THE ANXIOUS. The voiceless. The younger. The older. The everyone without a way to say the things that are inside them.
They will all learn to bring their ideas out of their bodies more and more easily letter by letter. With flow. They will hit the letters THEY WANT more and more accurately. Their batting average will increase as they train and practice. Even a person in the World Series doesn’t hit a home run every single time.
Even Michael Jordan missed the occasional free throw.