Therapy Thursday: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

As you may have noted from my extended blogging absence, I have been on holiday. But never fear, Super Woman is here! Did you figure I was captured by my evil nemesis, or off saving the world?


After ignoring my library book for 12 consecutive weeks (no joke), I finally completed reading The Diving Bell and The Butterfly as discussed in this post about Augmentative Communication using one's eyes. The language, imagery, and vocabulary used in the book are breathtaking. It soars between the author's former life, his current situation, his family, his dreams. Revealing the terror of Locked-In syndrome, while still fondly dreaming of feasts he can never eat and sites he can never see.

And his ode to my profession cannot be ignored (of course!). If these lines from the book do not re-inspire me, then nothing will:

The identity badge pinned to Sadrine's white tunic says "Speech Therapist," but it should read "Guardian Angel." She is the one who set up the communication code without which I would be cut off from the world.

and

Speech Therapy is an art that deserves to be more widely known. You cannot imagine the acrobatics your tongue mechanically performs in order to produce all the sounds of a language.

The amazing way that this book was written and transcribed, however, cannot be fully appreciated without also seeing the french film with the same title. Amazing, dream-like, and very french (therefore not for kids!), it is no wonder this film was awarded "Best Foreign Language Film of the Year" at the Golden Globes.


The absolute power of communication is revealed when you imagine life without it. What would you do, and who would you be, if you could not express yourself?