Ryan is an 14 year old boy living in North Richland Hills, TX with his family. Ryan’s RPM journey began in January 2014. He has attended several workshops with different RPM providers and he works daily with his mom at home doing lessons and several times a week with certified Soma-RPM provider, Adriana Barriga. Ryan began with making paper choices, moved to three stencils (A-I), (J-R), and (S-Z), then moved to two stencils (A-O) and (P-Z), then a rolled letter board with all 26 letters on it (which can be folded in two for A-O and P-Z) then a flat board with 26 letters on it to spell out his thoughts and now uses a bluetooth keyboard to communicate. You can learn more about Soma RPM at www.halo-soma.org.
Ryan’s interests include reading, playing piano, listening to music, watching the Texas Rangers, riding his tandem bike, and writing jokes. Ryan states that he wants to be treated equal despite his autism.
I am in my head. 
My cousin posted your blog to her FB and I just want to say welcome to Texas. Hope you enjoy your time. Know that the weather is very different here but the people here are friendly and caring. My grandson has apraxia and the going is tough but rewarding. The language board is a godsend…again welcome
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Thank you so much, Kathy! We appreciate the welcome!!! Yes, the letter board has been life changing here! It is great to know that you are so involved with your grandson’s life! Thanks again for posting!
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This is amazing,Steph. I really would love to see a letter board in action something.
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Susanne, I promise to put up some videos of Ryan. Don’t worry!
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HI! I also have a non-verbal son with autism. He is 9.
His name is Isaac. We have a blog at http://www.redgreenlellow.com which I try to post on, but lately I haven’t had the time.
I am going to my first parent RPM group tomorrow and I have a letter board. My son isnt interested at all, although he did great with Soma. He did so great with her that I thought for sure she was giving him all the answers, and that it was “too easy”
I am grateful that you have blogged about how hard it is to accomplish RPM, because I feel like we have not had very good sessions at all…
I am looking forward to learning more so that I can communicate with my son.
Thanks so much for your blog!
Tara McMillan
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My cousin Velma posted your blog on her Facebook. So much insight and perspective. Amazing how expressive your son is. It’s amazing how he can fully understand his emotions. I know children who are teenagers who can’t express their emotions. My son doesn’t have autism he has ADHD and we all have our own journeys. Thank you for sharing yours. It’s a gentle reminder to show compassion and respect to others. May I please follow your blog. Let me know if there’s a link. Thanks so much.
Desirae
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Desirae,
Thank you for your kind words! I Am In My Head is on Facebook and I know that there is a way to follow our blog/subscribe to posts, but I can’t seem to figure it out! You might have to have a google account to do it. I will look into it and try and follow up with you. Thanks again!
Stephanie
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I use WordPress also. There is a “Follow” button on your page now. On my tablet, it doesn’t always show unless I flip the page up, then it appears in lower right corner briefly. You just need to click on it and you’re done. On a PC, the “Follow” button should always be there. A non-Wordpress follower may have to supply their email address. Hope this helps.
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I was extremely impressed with Ryan’s touching story and his relationship with Grandpa Bob. I have been writing about Bob and other Americans detained in Iran for 2 and a half years (which is NOTHING compared to the stellar job you and your family have done keeping Bob’s plight before the nation). In the process I feel like I have gotten to know Bob and your family members. Your tributes to Bob on Facebook amaze me because each of the children seems to have had great one on one moments that left indelible impressions … life lessons about living a quality life. It seems all of you are doing just that. And that is perhaps the greatest possible tribute to your wonderful father, and Grandpa!
My nane is Daniel, I’m about Bob’s age, 68, and live in FL. It’s my hope to see or visit Bob sometime soon.
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P.S. I meant to post the above after the ‘Grandpa Bob’ article. Maybe it’s just as well here. God bless you all.
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Ryan, thank you for asking my your question today at the Autism Conference. I like your smile. I think you are one of the smartest young men that I have met, and wow– your letter to us was interesting and helpful. Ryan you touched me heart today. Thank you — oh and freckles was a really cool dog.
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Ryan – Thank you so much for sharing your journey. Sending you and yours the very best!
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This is a ggreat blog
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