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Philip Reyes is a seventh grader at Heim Middle School in Williamsville, New York, and he recently wrote a piece about autism and communication for The Buffalo News. Reyes is nonverbal, uses Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) to communicate, and he hopes sharing his story will give other nonverbal kids the same opportunities as him.
“I am attacking the idea that autism is a bad thing that should be eradicated,” Reyes wrote. “For me, autism is a different way of sensing, moving and interacting with the world.”
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“When people talked about my concerning behaviors in front of me I would feel embarrassed and pent-up shame,” he added. “I was made to feel horrible for my autism.”.
Reyes didn’t start using RPM until he was 9, and he wrote that the results were life-changing: