I’d been wondering recently.
I’d acted in good faith. As a teacher of small children with speech and language difficulties, it never crossed my mind not to try to ‘improve’ their verbal communication skills. I thought it was my job. That was before I’d discovered that many of them could already communicate fine, but telepathically. Had I got it right? Did the spoken word limit rather than expand their ability?
I shared my doubts with a friend and fellow teacher of autistic students I met through writing on Medium.com. Her response was helpful and reassuring:
You did the right thing by assisting Asher in developing his communication skills. His everyday life would be more difficult if you and others hadn’t helped him.
She reminded me that most non-speaking people can only communicate through a communication partner, which limits their ability to interact with others, their independence, and their happiness. She added:
It is essential to keep all forms of independent communication open for them, even though they are more limiting.
So yes, I got it then. The spoken word is more limiting than projecting thought telepathically for Asher, and those like him, but he needs it in order to live an independent life.
And the vase of flowers?
Ah yes, that story.
As I so often do, this morning I selected, at random, one of the many books in which I’ve recorded my discussions with Asher, and saw where it fell open.
The entry was dated two years ago. It told of a woman I used to meet up with then who sometimes got messages for me from her spirit guides. On this occasion, they’d suggested that in our next telepathic session, Asher and I should focus together on an empty blue vase, and then see it filled with flowers.
I duly relayed the message to Asher and this is his response as I recorded it that night:
Asher: Blue is relevant. The flowers represent you to me. You always loved flowers, so maybe I’m the vase and you give me a purpose by filling me with the flowers.
I noted that blue was the colour of the throat chakra, so perhaps connected with communication.
Asher: Yes — you gave me a voice, first by helping me to speak and write and use words, and now through putting my thoughts and knowing into words.
It takes a teacher of great insight and subtlety, like my friend Mary Ann Harrington, mentioned above, to manage the delicate task of helping these sensitive young people to develop some level of independent communication whilst encouraging them to keep open those infinitely more subtle channels of mental communication they brought into this life.
It seems I’ve been guided into achieving something of that skill.