My name is Janelle, but people usually me Nell. I am living my life with Cerebral Palsy. I am non verbal from a result of my CP. I have found it frustrating over the years when people automatically assume that I must have an intellectual disability due to being non verbal. I know that there are lots of non verbal people in the same position as me who face verbal people misunderstanding about being non verbal and think that non verbal people have an intellectual disability every day. This isn't true at all. I put it down to the lack of understanding by verbal people about what non verbal means. I have set up this Mindbook! What's Non Verbal? page as a community of support for non verbal people, their family and friends. I hope that it will be a safe page for people to be honest and open about issues as well as your experiences good or bad with being non verbal or caring for someone who is non verbal. Your suggestions and ideas will be very welcome about how you have overcome or handle issues surrounding being non verbal. People need to bear in mind that non verbal people have wonderful brains and they are intelligent just like everyone else, but they communicate with the world differently through a number of different communication methods. It is respecting non verbal people and remembering they have the right to choose how they want to communicate with people and the world. Look past people's disability to find a voice within.
