Mercury Cazimi Education

This is who we’re fighting for: students who are kept from meaningful learning opportunities because no one expects them to learn.

Nonspeaking does not mean nonthinking!

Dear friends and allies, my heart is so full today. Yesterday I had the awesome opportunity to advocate for spelling and access to communication and education for all adults and children who struggle to communicate. I was invited to speak at an Autism Rocks event at Kesey square in Eugene. Below is what I shared:
Thanks for listening.

Love,
Jack, Advocate

Hello, my name is Jack Hague, and i am a nonspeaking autistic guy and this is my service dog, Leeli. I have lived here since I was three.

I went through early intervention, special ed classrooms, with a few integrated electives with typical peers, even transitioned to the more specialized supports at Bridgeway House, but they all failed to recognize my intelligence and give me meaningful communication access.

It wasn’t until age 17 that my parents finally stumbled on the Spellers documentary and immediately started our training. At last they were able to see my intelligence and support my main disability which is apraxia, a brain-body disconnect, that makes it very difficult to control body movement.

Before being able to spell to communicate, I was imprisoned in my own body, and I was treated as though I couldn’t understand or make my own decisions, but now I have agency and the freedom to decide my own future.

I am not alone in my experience. There are now thousands of us spellers, and I know there are thousands more people of all ages living right here in Lane county who are living imprisoned as I was, who are maybe listening right now to my words, and they are desperate to find their voice and have their intelligence discovered. We are working to bring this training to Eugene and make it more accessible, but in the mean time, if you want to learn more, please watch the Spellers documentary and read from many nonspeaking self advocates like myself. My blog is called My Words at Last, Jack Hague’s blog. Feel free to grab a business card or snap the QR code for the documentary and blog.

My hope for Eugene is that we become a safe place for non-speakers to not only be embraced, but also become free to unlock their voices, be empowered to have agency, and invited to add their beautiful intelligence to making our communities stronger, safer, and healthier for the flourishing of every single person.

I have a dream that every adult and child who struggles to communicate will be given access to communication as a basic human right, and that one-size-fits-all testing would no longer bar us from our right to an actually appropriate education, and that low IQ would no longer be the assumption, but instead, we would all be presumed competent and capable of learning.

I believe we have beautiful hearted educators, care givers, and caseworkers who truly want to honor, respect, and value us, but until they are willing to value our competence, true disability, and intelligence, their misguided efforts and presumptions do more harm than good.

Please, if you do only one thing today, consider what presuming competence looks like for the person you love and support. What if their mind is completely capable, but they have a rogue body like mine that will not follow the directions their mind is commanding? How would your support change?

I hope you would have compassion for how frustrating and embarrassing it is to be constantly betrayed by your body. I hope you would have respect for the fact that the mind knows and can respond, but the body needs the patient support and motor coaching to follow the brilliant mind. I hope you would acknowledge that brilliant mind and never give up looking for and working on a way for that mind to communicate and be fed and challenged to keep learning. I hope you will remember we are hearing and processing and remembering everything that is said about us without our input. Please be respectful, please be kind to these rogue bodies with intelligent minds. Thanks for this opportunity to share my story and thanks for listening.

We need to understand apraxia to understand nonspeaking people. Actions are not always intended, and we cannot assume a motivation behind them. This is one of the many reasons we need reliable means of communication for every single human!

Not every action reflects a person's thoughts, intentions, or desires.

For many Apraxic and nonspeaking individuals, many behaviors are driven by motor, sensory, emotional, or regulatory challenges rather than purposeful communication.

When a person becomes overwhelmed by sensory input, motor demands, emotions, or cognitive load, the nervous system can become dysregulated.

In these moments, the body may react in ways that appear sudden, impulsive, intense, or confusing. These reactions are often not intentional messages. Instead, they are signs that the nervous system is overwhelmed and struggling to regain regulation.

Understanding this distinction can help us respond with greater empathy, support, and respect.

Thank you to all who joined us for Express Fest on Saturday, including an amazing team of volunteers and collaborators!

If you want an instant sense of community, check out this inclusive open mic! Great people, great vibes, amazing mission ❤️

Don't forget Band Together Central Ohio is THIS Sunday from 2 to 5pm at Gatsby's Bar and Grill! Come out and share a talent or listen to some amazing performers! 🎤🎼🎸🎹

What will you add to the Giant Community Poem? Register for Express Fest here! It's FREE!
https://forms.gle/YXxi8CR1asT2kVfo6