What do you think?
Rate this book
Speechless
Fiacre Ryan’s story to this point is utterly compelling. He was the first non-verbal autistic student to sit the Irish Leaving Cert, achieving honours marks in Maths, English, & History. Until the age of 13, Fiacre had no means of communicating with his family or the outside world. His family believed his non-verbal autism had effectively locked him out of an ability to engage with the world. Their perception was that he was incapable of ‘learning’ beyond any basic form of communication. Through the introduction of the ‘rapid prompting method’ (RPM), a tool designed to help autistic children communicate, Fiacre has subverted all prior perceived limitations of somebody with non-verbal autism. In the process he has unleashed his inner writer to devastatingly beautiful effect. His writing itself is astonishing, independent from his autism. He has an extraordinary and unique way of combining words and ideas. His poems address his daily experiences, while his commentary showcases his thoughts on the non-autistic world, on how those with autism are treated and his own personal ambitions and dreams for the future.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published December 9, 2022
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 24, 2023
Speechless: Reflections from My Voiceless World by Fiacre Ryan is a thoughtful and generous glimpse into the life of the author and how he engages with his surroundings as a non-verbal autistic young man, as well as a social critique on inclusion and an explicit piece on activism that looks for visibility and empathy. When I first read the description of the book as “The extraordinary debut collection from Ireland’s non-verbal writer” I thought that sentence was sort of an oxymoron. How could a writer be non-verbal? Well, in the world of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) non-verbal refers to spoken language, so Ryan does not speak, but he learned to communicate thanks to the rapid prompting method (RPM).
As the book testifies, this method was extremely successful for him, up to the point in which he was able to write these short essays and poems in which he shares his daily life. Ryan’s purpose with this publication is clear from the beginning: he wants to create visibility for him and other people who live similar experiences with non-verbal autism as well as raise awareness on how our world, built for people “who is called normal” disregards their needs. I must admit that before reading it I was completely ignorant about non-verbal autism, so I can say that he is accomplishing his purpose.
Ryan is very open about his experiences, including his relationship with his family, what he enjoys about nature, and his education, which, thanks to his parents, was as traditional as the one any other boy his age received. As for the linguistic part, it is not something he discusses in technical details, but rather in terms of how it transformed his life or, in his own words, “how [his] life has emerged from silence”.
The main reason I chose to read this book is because of the language aspect. That’s one of the reasons why I love reading: I find fascinating how people transform their thoughts, feelings, and experiences into words, how they help shape and make sense of things. Besides the more personal and political purpose of the book, I think Ryan’s writing is also about his own process as a writer of understanding his ideas, putting them into words and then down in paper with the explicit intent of transmitting a message.
Regarding the first and essential step of understanding himself, he shows a great level of self-awareness on the page. As a usual reader of personal essays, I enjoy this level of consciousness and vulnerability, which is not always achieved even though the word “personal” could suggest otherwise. It shows how much thought the writer has dedicated to his work and opens up the possibility of connecting at a closer level with readers.
While both things are true for Speechless, what is most particular to the title is how Ryan conceives of his thoughts in relation to language. “Some might say mastering the letterboard freed my thoughts, but I believe it tamed them”, and then he adds: “Meaning comes to life in typed text.” This testimony of someone who, unlike a baby, has plain consciousness and memory of how he learned to communicate with words and what writing does for his thoughts is insightful and definitely sums up to the discussion that linguists, philosophers, and psychologists have had for centuries regarding thought preceding language.
I know he is speaking from his particular experience of acquiring language thanks to the RPM, but even at a more general level I felt identified with what he says about how meaning comes to life in typed text. Many times I struggle to find the right words to express my thoughts and feelings, and writing can help process whatever is going through my mind and put some order. I think this is one of the reasons why journaling is so popular.
But going back to Ryan’s experience and the message he wants to transmit, his goal is to create visibility for other people with non-verbal autism. He appears to have a self-imposed mission of representation, which I think is very generous of him. He is not only taking advantage of his skills for his own development but wants to make use of them as a means to try to make a change towards inclusion. He makes the point of how it is too easy to exclude people who cannot speak for themselves so, even though he is aware that his testimony is his story and his “autistic world”, he is making himself seen and heard for others who can’t do it for themselves.
At some point he mentions that he has received letters of gratitude and congratulations for what he has accomplished after his RTÉ documentary was out. Besides showing the noise his story has caused, this fact points towards another important aspect for him, the importance of having a support system. He writes about his own support system, but the people who write to him seem to be the support system of others. In this way his social critique alludes directly to every reader and gives strength to his voice. The way he writes “I see a world where my testimony can help to cure their narrow minds” sounds like a wish, at least the first time I read the sentence, but after processing the whole book I now see it as an affirmation of what I think is already happening.
In Ryan’s attempt to explain his own mind, he is explaining so much about what a person in disadvantage against people “who is called normal” needs from his environment to have the same opportunities. At the same time, he gives solid proof that invalidates prejudices about people in the autism spectrum regarding intelligence and capabilities. If we pay close attention, he shows that it is because of that social stigma that people with diagnoses similar to his are in disadvantage, not because they have something inherently “wrong”, as so many believe. Within the own logic of the book, I’d say that it accomplishes Ryan’s purpose. “See the world through my eyes as I navigate through yours” is what he looks for and what I got as a reader.
As the book testifies, this method was extremely successful for him, up to the point in which he was able to write these short essays and poems in which he shares his daily life. Ryan’s purpose with this publication is clear from the beginning: he wants to create visibility for him and other people who live similar experiences with non-verbal autism as well as raise awareness on how our world, built for people “who is called normal” disregards their needs. I must admit that before reading it I was completely ignorant about non-verbal autism, so I can say that he is accomplishing his purpose.
Ryan is very open about his experiences, including his relationship with his family, what he enjoys about nature, and his education, which, thanks to his parents, was as traditional as the one any other boy his age received. As for the linguistic part, it is not something he discusses in technical details, but rather in terms of how it transformed his life or, in his own words, “how [his] life has emerged from silence”.
The main reason I chose to read this book is because of the language aspect. That’s one of the reasons why I love reading: I find fascinating how people transform their thoughts, feelings, and experiences into words, how they help shape and make sense of things. Besides the more personal and political purpose of the book, I think Ryan’s writing is also about his own process as a writer of understanding his ideas, putting them into words and then down in paper with the explicit intent of transmitting a message.
Regarding the first and essential step of understanding himself, he shows a great level of self-awareness on the page. As a usual reader of personal essays, I enjoy this level of consciousness and vulnerability, which is not always achieved even though the word “personal” could suggest otherwise. It shows how much thought the writer has dedicated to his work and opens up the possibility of connecting at a closer level with readers.
While both things are true for Speechless, what is most particular to the title is how Ryan conceives of his thoughts in relation to language. “Some might say mastering the letterboard freed my thoughts, but I believe it tamed them”, and then he adds: “Meaning comes to life in typed text.” This testimony of someone who, unlike a baby, has plain consciousness and memory of how he learned to communicate with words and what writing does for his thoughts is insightful and definitely sums up to the discussion that linguists, philosophers, and psychologists have had for centuries regarding thought preceding language.
I know he is speaking from his particular experience of acquiring language thanks to the RPM, but even at a more general level I felt identified with what he says about how meaning comes to life in typed text. Many times I struggle to find the right words to express my thoughts and feelings, and writing can help process whatever is going through my mind and put some order. I think this is one of the reasons why journaling is so popular.
But going back to Ryan’s experience and the message he wants to transmit, his goal is to create visibility for other people with non-verbal autism. He appears to have a self-imposed mission of representation, which I think is very generous of him. He is not only taking advantage of his skills for his own development but wants to make use of them as a means to try to make a change towards inclusion. He makes the point of how it is too easy to exclude people who cannot speak for themselves so, even though he is aware that his testimony is his story and his “autistic world”, he is making himself seen and heard for others who can’t do it for themselves.
At some point he mentions that he has received letters of gratitude and congratulations for what he has accomplished after his RTÉ documentary was out. Besides showing the noise his story has caused, this fact points towards another important aspect for him, the importance of having a support system. He writes about his own support system, but the people who write to him seem to be the support system of others. In this way his social critique alludes directly to every reader and gives strength to his voice. The way he writes “I see a world where my testimony can help to cure their narrow minds” sounds like a wish, at least the first time I read the sentence, but after processing the whole book I now see it as an affirmation of what I think is already happening.
In Ryan’s attempt to explain his own mind, he is explaining so much about what a person in disadvantage against people “who is called normal” needs from his environment to have the same opportunities. At the same time, he gives solid proof that invalidates prejudices about people in the autism spectrum regarding intelligence and capabilities. If we pay close attention, he shows that it is because of that social stigma that people with diagnoses similar to his are in disadvantage, not because they have something inherently “wrong”, as so many believe. Within the own logic of the book, I’d say that it accomplishes Ryan’s purpose. “See the world through my eyes as I navigate through yours” is what he looks for and what I got as a reader.
November 18, 2022
Such eloquent poetry!
My little girl is 12 and is also doing RPM for her communication. It has really been so amazing to see her voice. I read her this book and she loved it. She enjoyed the beautiful poetry, how she could connect with the writer, and she especially liked when the writer would describe how calming his lifestyle can be.
I appreciate him showing such a positive outlook on his life. She is also very positive about her future, and people like the writer are so encouraging to her.
My little girl is 12 and is also doing RPM for her communication. It has really been so amazing to see her voice. I read her this book and she loved it. She enjoyed the beautiful poetry, how she could connect with the writer, and she especially liked when the writer would describe how calming his lifestyle can be.
I appreciate him showing such a positive outlook on his life. She is also very positive about her future, and people like the writer are so encouraging to her.
December 16, 2022
An insightful, beautifully written and eye opening account of a life without speech in a world where silence is often equated with having nothing to say. I'm so thankful to Fiacre for sharing his story and look forward to reading his next work. This is a book everyone should read whether you know a non-verbal autistic person or not.
October 30, 2022
A beautifully written book with fascinating insights into the author’s mind as he navigates life with Autism.
December 28, 2022
Amazing insightful read. Highly recommend
January 2, 2023
Sunny and poetic. I love Fiacre’s use of poetry and prose to show his life in Ireland. Great to read something written by someone from Mayo!
August 11, 2025
Short but sweet, fascinating insight into the mind of an autistic person.
November 13, 2025
A powerful collection of personal accounts in a life without speech and a beautiful ode to the natural world. Fiacre is very inspirational.
November 29, 2022
eye popping reveal of what it's like to grow up speechless in 21st century Ireland
July 3, 2023
Brilliant, touching and a great achievement, looking forward to his next collection.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews