It’s a rare gem that becomes a spelling practitioner.
It takes passion, kindness, and an unwavering belief in the infinite possibilities of the autistic mind.
It is all about presuming competence.
And perseverance.
Brittney Ritchie is that gem.
Brittney began the practitioner training course in March 2024, and she has worked with Luke twice a week since then. Within 6 months, and in collaboration with Madison, Luke has graduated from the alphabetical clear laminate board to the QWERTY keyboard.
And within the last two weeks, Luke has become “open” with Brittney.
Open, as in spelling his thoughts.
Minds are being blown.
Luke is loving the feedback of the “text-to-talk” feature on the Proloquo4Text app (only available with Apple). He loves hearing the letters, words, and sentences out loud.
We are super proud, and in awe. Of them both.
Breaking new ground in Kamloops.
Brittney currently works with 2 other spellers during her training and is heading to the Big Apple (NYC) at the end of August for an intensive internship, working with Spellers of all kinds at Crimson Rise… a school / day program for Spellers.
She is hoping to complete the course/training and receive S2C (Spelling 2 Communicate) certification sometime in the fall. Soon she will be able to offer her services to the Kamloops and area community!
I’m so grateful to have Brittney available for us here in Kamloops. We will also continue to work with Madison, to make sure Luke has access to as much spelling as possible (“How can we help you?” His words: "MORE TIME SPELLING").
Because of the generosity of the GoFundMe donors we were able to purchase Luke’s Apple Air iPad and bluetooth keyboard.
Luke’s world is wide “open” now…
In Luke’s own words:
My tablet is going to change my life.
I am really happy now that I have a teacher here in Kamloops.
Thank you everyone for believing in me.
My teacher Brittney is my lifelong friend.
[Brittney:] You understand my mind.
