I Am Noah

Imagine you can't speak your thoughts. Instead you have to spell each word, one letter at a time, in order to communicate. This is the case for Noah. Noah is an unreliably speaking autistic. He also has apraxia of speech, which is a neurological disorder that prevents him from verbally saying what he wants to say. With the help of a communication regulation partner, Noah uses a letterboard to spell his thoughts one letter at a time. It's an arduous task, but it has allowed Noah to express himself and share his thoughts with the world. He attends a creative writing class at Santa Rosa Junior College. He's published multiple pieces in the school paper and has even won two awards for his writing. Noah loves poetry. Over the years he's written countless poems and has even self-published a poetry book called "Noah Rising." Noah shares with us: “I have hopes and dreams just like anybody else. Except mine are rooted in a desire to change the way the world sees me. Sign of progress for autistics are simple: I want to finish college and be a writer. I want deeply fulfilling relationships with others. I want storage of good memories to burst at the seams. Really it’s the same things anyone looking to find happiness might want. I know I deserve this. My ultimate dream is to remove all barriers set by those who insist on questioning my intelligence because of how I communicate.” "There may be blankness Between here and there My mind can be floating anywhere When I do nothing Something does poetry Inside me" -Noah McSweeney . . . . . Find more incredible stories and causes at incrediblyhuman.com Follow Incredibly Human on instagram, facebook, tiktok, reddit. Video made and edited by Kyle Lister . . . . . . *Disclaimer* Because of discourse around the subject of spelling and letterboards, we want to include a disclaimer. This is a story about a young man who uses spelling to share his voice with the world. Clips in this video were not filmed to show the "authenticity" of spelling or letterboarding. Therefore they should not be judged so. This video was made with storytelling in mind. Most clips are in slow motion and do not show the accurate speed of spelling. Some clips may show "hovering" over the board, but this does not mean he did not make contact with the board. We are an unbiased journalism/storytelling company. We did not witness any "facilitated communication" or manipulation that would suggest Noah is not sharing his own words. We spent a lot of time with Noah and with his multiple CRPs. We believe Noah has full autonomy with his thoughts and the words he shares through spelling. Further, this video is copyrighted and not allowed to be shared or used in anyway to discredit Noah or spelling without the consent of Kyle Lister. . . . . . #disability #autism #autismawareness #autismacceptance #apraxia #apraxiaofspeach #spellers #letterboard #poetry #poetrycommunity #family #love #disabilityawareness #mom #incrediblyhuman #incrediblestories #autism #autismawareness #disabilities #nonprofit #nonprofitorganization #nonprofitsupport #incrediblecauses #santarosacalifornia . . . . MB01ELBQZPN3SZS MB01TFVU0AA0GVO