UGA Libraries Logo

Interview with John McCarty, December 07, 2018

Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia
Transcript
Toggle Index/Transcript View Switch.
Index
Search this Index
X
00:00:29 - Struggle to communicate

Play segment

Partial Transcript: You're welcome. Thank you for having us.

Segment Synopsis: Joan McCarty reads John McCarty's written account of his story. He describes his struggle to communicate with others as an autistic, non-reliable speaker. He talks about how he had trouble expressing himself before he learned new ways to communicate, including using spelling and the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM).

Keywords: Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS); autism; books; chores; exercise; family life; motor skills

Hyperlink:
00:02:27 - Rapid Prompting Method (RPM)

Play segment

Partial Transcript: Then I learned RPM. The world changed significantly for me in late 2014. That is when we found RPM, Rapid Prompting Method.

Segment Synopsis: McCarty describes learning to communicate with others through the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) which uses gross motor skills to point to letters on a letter board or keyboard in order to spell out words and sentences. He talks about going through RPM training and finally being able to express himself.

Keywords: 60 Minutes; Cure Autism Now (CAN); Elizabeth Vosseller; Helping Autism Through Learning and Outreach (HALO); Soma; motor functioning; speech pathologist

00:05:38 - Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS)

Play segment

Partial Transcript: My mom started getting me books on CD at the library mostly focused on the Civil War. I now had more interesting things to do.

Segment Synopsis: McCarty describes becoming part of GLASS due to his vision impairment. He talks about the benefits of using talking books offered through GLASS because of the large variety of materials available.

Keywords: Alex Haley; Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD); In Her Own Words; Michelle Obama; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; audio books

Hyperlink:
00:06:51 - Community Involvement

Play segment

Partial Transcript: Along with some of the others who have found RPM as a way to learn and communicate, we formed a book club.

Segment Synopsis: McCarty describes forming a book club with others who use RPM. He talks about taking two university classes and getting his GED. He talks about educational speeches he has given about his experience with autism to various organizations including the Boy Scouts, Creative Consulting Services, Drake House, and the Sangha Unity Network.

Keywords: Angela's Ashes ; Life of Pie ; Station Eleven ; The Martian ; Glass Castle; Darcy Elks; Gwinnett Technical College; Perimeter campus of Georgia State University; Sangha Unity Network Self-Advocacy Planning Session; University of Virginia; Wheel Power; book club