The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Research Writing 181 The Unspoken Speaker: Analyzing Literacy in Non-Vocal Children With Cerebral Palsy Joshua Perez Introduction A non-vocal child can be a speaking child. To go one step further, a non-vocal child can be a literate child. This article is a story of a boy named Connor. Connor is a lover of sports, family, and school, and Connor is non-vocal. How could someone know this? Though non-vocal children do not obtain the ability to communicate through spoken word, they still poses the ability to portray thoughts and emotions. There is plentiful research which attempts to uncover the abilities of children, like Connor, who cannot speak. Connor is only one member of a society filled with sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters who are non-vocal, and because of this, are misunderstood. This article explores the abilities of non- vocal children with cerebral palsy in various aspects of literacy with varying sex, age, and educational background. Figure 1: Connor, now 15, pictured at age 12 Cerebral Palsy, commonly abbreviated as “CP,” refers to a group of disorders affecting a person’s ability to move. CP is caused by damage