Scott Sherwood on Lily’s Voice, Spelling & the Exhaustion of Being Doubted

Podcast: The David Kaufer Podcast: The Lighter Side of the Spectrum · David Kaufer

Opublikowano: 2026-05-22

David welcomes radiologist and author Scott Sherwood to discuss the exhaustion families feel when non-speaking autistic people’s intelligence, competence, and authorship are constantly questioned. Scott shares Lily’s early autism diagnosis, years of intensive therapies (including ABA and speech methods), and how flawed assumptions and motor demands in testing can misrepresent cognition, especially with apraxia/dyspraxia. He describes discovering RPM at age 12, later pursuing spelling-based communication supports, moving to Atlanta for a larger speller community, and using strategies focused on regulation and motor coaching. They critique skepticism around spelling/FC, shifting goalposts such as message-passing tests, underrepresentation of non...