It all began Saturday night. As an addicted Twitterer, I decided to Twitter about my daughter's highlights of the day. I began a new Twitter and named it Invador_Zim after Maria's favorite cartoon character. Maria_Zim became very involved once she saw the Invador Zim Avatar on the page. We began to roleplay together.
Maria_Zim is 14 years of age and has Autism. She is loving, and very funny. She is capable of verbalizing her needs and wants but finds it very difficult to speak more than two words. She is very expressive and I know that all the words are in her head but, her brain seems to fumble when she wants to speak those words. Maria_Zim's challenges with handcoordination and one to one correspondence have not as of this time allowed her to learn how to read and write. However: I reapeat, Maria_Zim's mind has a lot to say to us. I will write for her. I will do my best to be true to her words. Ofcourse, most of the time I am putting words in her mouth but, I can tell if she agrees with them. If she laughs, smiles, or shakes her head yes I continue with the thought. If she looks down with a frown, becomes disinterested, or points at the computer with frustration, I will know that I'm off track.
When Maria_Zim writes, she will be Invador_Zim and many other characters. Invador_Zim's comments about daily life will relfect her true life. I will write for Invador_Zim as the Earthling. Believe me, I am truely under her control. She lets me know when to write and as I explained above, she has as much control as possible as to the content. Know that she loves this. It is highly entertaining to her. Has her mom, I see the potential. My hope is that she will learn to read and type one day. What a way to introduce it to her right? It's definitly a win win for all of us.
Please follow www.Twitter.com/@Invador_Zim and enjoy! Our goal is to reach as many people as possible so please retweet as much as you can. Thank you for your support.
