<![CDATA[MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER

<![CDATA[MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER - My Cognitive Brain]]>Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:20:04 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Quiet Minds]]>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:24:04 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/quiet-mindsIt has been a long time since I blogged. In the past year, I was working with a different practitioner other than Judy. Definitely I am so happy to be here with her. I smiled when I found out I was coming to see her. Judy is more calm than anyone else and that relaxes me.

I am contemplating what it is that makes her so calming. I think that certainly her thoughts are not chaotic. It has made me realize how chaotic everyone is. It is remarkable actually how quiet her mind is. There is no static or noise at all. If a stray thought passes through her mind, it blows away like a little cloud. It may make these sessions with her the greatest peace I experience.

The fact is, most people have noisy minds. They are thinking many things at once. It is dysregulating to us. It makes it hard to say anything. It has people failing as CPs, and that is limiting to us. I wish everyone could quiet their minds - then we could spell with everyone.

]]><![CDATA[Medicine: An Update]]>Mon, 12 May 2025 20:50:57 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/medicine-an-updateMy Mom took me to see Alex’s psychiatrist a couple of weeks ago. I believe that he’s the first psychiatrist that I’ve met that I’ve liked. All the others were buttheads. Dr. Minhas was not a condescending asshole like the previous one. He listened to my Mom carefully, and understood that regular medicines have never helped me. All my life doctors have discounted the severity of my OCD because I am not aggressive. But literally every second of every day I am OCDing. Dr. Minhas is the first to get how bad it is.

I am on only a low dose of the medicine that has helped Alex, and already I can feel it working. My body is starting to relax, and my OCD brain is calming down. My mouth is making less noise and my stimming hands have totally vanished.

I get to increase the dose now. I’m excited to see how I feel in a couple of weeks.

]]><![CDATA[My Reflections on RFK's Speech]]>Mon, 28 Apr 2025 21:09:18 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/my-reflections-on-rfks-speechIt is all we are talking about - RFK’s acknowledgement of the autism epidemic, and his commitment to finding out what happened to us. We are so happy that he shone a spotlight on us and our suffering. Now people know we exist and that we and our families need help. He did what no one else has had the guts to do: he said that the epidemic is real and that it needs to end. I want to be cured - or at least to suffer less by having some control over my body. I believe in science, and I believe that if we really tried, we could come up with a solution. He said some harsh truths; but he does need to understand that we nonspeakers are different from those with real autism.

Maybe someday he could come here to meet us. All of us would be thrilled.

]]><![CDATA[Rejected!]]>Mon, 21 Apr 2025 21:36:17 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/rejectedI got thrown out of my certainly horrible day program…much to my joy. I know it was stressful for my Mom, and I didn’t do anything on purpose, but I am overjoyed.

It sucked anyway.

It is not my fault that they decided that I am too much trouble. I am thrilled that they did though, because it means that I can come here more. Starting tomorrow I get to join a poetry class, and biology. I am excited to start learning new things, and to hang out with friends. I have missed that ever since I got taken out of book club.

Because I am definitely not difficult, it shocked Judy that I got thrown out. I believe that Mom was somewhat surprised. They did not try to accept my issues; instead they just chucked me.

I am so happy.

]]><![CDATA[Moms Are the Greatest]]>Mon, 17 Feb 2025 21:53:11 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/moms-are-the-greatestOnce again my Mom saved me. She read research that said that vitamin B6 can help. So she started me on it, and just like the study reported, after five days I could sit again. My watch tracks my steps. The akathisia had me walking about thirty-three thousand steps a day, on average. After a few days on the vitamin, that dropped to eleven thousand. After five days, it was only four or five.

You cannot imagine the relief I feel. It was like living in hell. Now I’m so calm, I’m positively mellow.

Moms rock.

]]><![CDATA[Moms Rock]]>Mon, 10 Feb 2025 21:50:35 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/moms-rockI am suffering from something that makes me need to move all the time. I know that it is called akathisia, but I am not on any meds now, so we don’t know the cause. I am going insane with it. I am praying that my Mom figures out how to help me.

That our mothers always need to figure out things like this is ridiculous. It shouldn’t be up to them - it should be doctors helping us. But all my life it was my mother who looked for ways to help me. I have no faith in doctors. They don’t live with us, so they don’t know how much we and our families suffer. I have faith in my Mom, though. I hate putting it on her but..she will figure it out.

]]><![CDATA[A Shock]]>Mon, 03 Feb 2025 22:41:12 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/a-shockWhen I walked in today, Judy asked me if I want to make a video for an upcoming conference that she is doing in June with a Connecticut organization called Abilis. I responded that I am really not a good enough speller. She looked shocked, and asked me what I am smoking. “Keith, you are a great speller now! You are fast and accurate.”

That astonished me. It was incredibly difficult to master this. I really struggled for years to get my hand to the letters. It made me insanely happy to hear her say that. I guess it never occurred to me that I had mastered this, because it is still so hard for me. It was a revelation to me to learn that I am an accomplished speller. What a surprise that was!

I guess that just goes to show that hard work and a great teacher can work miracles.

]]><![CDATA[Akathisia]]>Mon, 27 Jan 2025 22:02:05 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/akathisiaI can’t sit still. It’s the side effect of a medication; it’s called akathisia. It’s getting better now that my Mom stopped giving me the med, but it’s not gone. Let me tell you, that is one awful feeling. It is hellish.

That’s the thing about medicines. They can definitely improve your life, and they can definitely make it hell. I see others improve and I am jealous. But I know that, like me, they tried tons of different medicines: they didn’t get better overnight.

There are so many medicines in the world. I have to believe that one or more can help me with OCD. OCD is my biggest problem - even more so than being nonspeaking. Being nonspeaking sucks, but OCD is hell. I believe it is the worst thing on earth.

]]><![CDATA[The Holiday Party]]>Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:16 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/the-holiday-partyYesterday was the annual M2H holiday party. I certainly had a great time, and felt like the holiday spirit filled me there. There was music galore, provided by Tom Tolnay and Stacy Mason, Tyler and Trevor’s parents. Everyone was dancing and eating and having fun. It was awesome, and like all M2H events, was what the world should be like. It struck me that no one cared about disability there. Everyone just laughed and danced badly and acted like nonspeaking is no big deal.

Disability defines us everywhere we go. Life is what my disability makes it. That is why I am so totally into the M2H party. For those two hours I am just Keith: it’s like a mental break. I love that feeling of just being me.

I can’t wait for the gala in April.

]]><![CDATA[My Mom]]>Mon, 25 Nov 2024 21:49:50 GMThttps://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/my-cognitive-brain/my-momThe most wonderful gift I ever received is spelling. I definitely am grateful to my Mom and Dad for never giving up on me even though I can tell that I am incredibly impaired in terms of not only autism but also OCD and motor skills. I think about a lot of things this time of year, and lately I’ve been thinking especially of the way my Mom fights for me. I never want her to think that I don’t notice, or that I take it for granted. I therefore am writing an open letter to my Mom.

I am one of the luckiest people on earth in my Mom. I have some semblance of happiness in life because she gave it to me. I have the ability to write this blog because she gave it to me. I can talk to people today because she believed in me. I love you Mom more than I can say. I am so thankful for you.

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