Wow. Thank you for the link to this. That's an awesome article.

My youngest son is autistic. Right now one of his biggest communicators and connectors are a picture/card book at school with pictures of activities/things around the classroom that he wants and his foam letters here which he's taking off spelling out words right and left. Though he is minimally verbal (blurts with frustration) and has *finally* mastered pointing for what he wants as well.

Translating what's in there is a challenge but it's in there. And thankfully, even just the age difference between the girl in the article and him (he's 5) it's that much more difference in the tools/methods used from the get go with him.