Ido in Autismland by Ido Kedar
Our book and podcast theme this month is focused on the non-speaking community. Our book choice is by Ido Kedar, who describes himself as a non-speaking, autistic person. His book is hard to put down, but also painful to read at times. It is about his childhood experiences, often in school and therapy, and his journey to finding his voice.
Ido was presumed to be intellectually disabled because of his ‘autistic’ behaviours and his difficulties in controlling his body. His motor challenges prevented him from talking and from using his body to communicate effectively. luckily, his parents began to realise how smart he was and they began looking for better ways to help him. Ido now communicates fluently using alternative methods of communication. He began to communicate using a letter board (pointing to letters on a board or stencil to spell out words) and progressed to typing using a text to voice activated device, which we refer to as AAC.
This book is a must read for anybody who parents, or works, with someone who is non-speaking. Ido has also written a fiction book, In Two Worlds, which again gives us invaluable insight into the lives of autistic people with complex bodies. Additionally, Ido has a blog on his website at:
Both Ido’s books are available at major book retailers such as Book Depository and Amazon.
