IMPORTANT NOTE!!!
OUTDATED WEBSITE!!!

This website is no longer being updated! To visit this page on my current website, please use the following link:
   http://thiswayoflife.org/autreat05.html
Please update any links you have to this site.

Alternatives to Speech and Real-Time Communication

Many autistic people have trouble with real-time speech. Some of us find it easier to either avoid speech in favor of other modes of communication, while others find it useful to use less interactive forms of communication. However, there are a lot of questions and concerns autistic people have regarding non-typical forms of communication - questions like, "How will people respond", "What are my alternatives", and "Is desiring not to talk legitimate?"

My presentation at Autreat 2005 attempted to answer many of these. I have provided material from my discussion online. Please feel free to use this for any purpose, provided you acknowledge the source (Joel Smith).

Note that some of these files are quite large. The PDF or PostScript versions of the slides may take over an hour to download with a dial-up connection.

Conference Paper

This paper is the same paper that was included in the Autreat 2005 program book. It provides a relatively short summation of my presentation.

Comparison of Methods of Communication

A comparison chart listing many different forms of communication, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. This was also included in the Autreat 2005 program book.

PowerPoint Slides

This set of PowerPoint slides was used during my presentation.

JTalk

JTalk is speech software for newer Windows systems. It is free software developed by myself for my own personal use. Due to interest expressed at Autreat, I have made this software available for download.

Thanks!

Thanks to Elmindreda, who produced the PostScript and PDF versions of these documents.

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