Can you imagine loving someone without having a common language? For a long time, Hanne Grav Semner (20) and Erik Juvet Johnsen (24) did not have access to language. But a PC gave them the opportunity to get closer to each other. – It is good to have someone in the same situation. We are also very close behind the facade. We understand each other. But we would not have been lovers if we could not talk together, says Semner. WORDS WITH MEANING: With the screen in front of them, Semner and Johnsen can always make themselves understood both for others and each other. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / NRK The young couple met for the first time at the Technical Museum three years ago. By looking at words and symbols on a computer screen in front of them, Semner and Johnsen could form words and sentences. Just seconds after the gaze roams the screen, the voice comes out. Had it not been for this technology, the two would never have become lovers. – I happened to be there. We just started talking, says Johnsen. The girl who did not give up The technology is often abbreviated as ASK and stands for alternative and supplementary communication. For people with impaired or inability to speak, access to ASK can be groundbreaking. SYSTEM CRITICAL: Hanne Grav Semner was one of the first children in Norway to have access to ASK from childhood. Now she wants to give others the same opportunity. – Today, the system does not work as it should, she says. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / n637485 Both Johnsen and Semner remember well how frustrating it was before they could express themselves with words. – It felt strange to be dependent on others to say something. There were a million guessing games. I was the girl who did not give up. Sometimes I became very frustrated when others did not understand what I meant, says Semner. – It was very difficult, because we could not say what we wanted. Only the family understood me, says Johnsen. Few have access But access to language technology has not been a matter of course. Not everyone gets the same help. Semner was one of the first children in Norway to have the opportunity for eye-guided communication when she started primary school in 2008. Had it not been for her mother, she would never have had access to language technology, she explains. – Language is everything. I would not have been the same if my mother had not given me a language. TAKE THE MATCH: Semner and Johnsen will fight for more people to have the same language opportunities as them. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / n637485 Today, few have access to the form of communication. Semner and Johnsen think it is sad that not everyone gets the same opportunity as them. They believe the system is not working as it should. – Many people struggle to get a language, says Semner. Therefore, the couple will fight for everyone to have a language in the future. Supports the fight Secretary General Eva Buschmann of the Cerebral Palsy Association says that she has seen many lives change as a result of language technology. – Having access to language is a human right. Being able to talk to others is absolutely fundamental for us, our identity, to take care of ourselves, learn, build relationships and participate in democracy, she says. A HUMAN RIGHT: Being able to talk to others is absolutely fundamental for us, our identity, to take care of ourselves, learn, build relationships and participate in democracy, says Secretary General Eva Buschmann of the CP Association. Photo: CP-foreningen The CP-foreningen and a number of other organizations work to ensure that eye-guided communication becomes a recognized language on an equal footing with the language of the blind and deaf. Buschmann wants ASK to be included as a minority language in the Language Act, as has been done with sign language. Few people have the right competence to teach ASK today, says Buschmann. Therefore, it is often up to parents to find the solutions that are best for their children. Because Semner’s mother was early aware of her daughter’s language needs, early action could be taken. But this is not the case for everyone. If ASK gets minority language status, it will be of great importance as it will help children and young people to develop their own language adapted to them at an early stage. – Some children master eye-guided communication very early and then professionals and the rest of us around must be there for them, Buschmann says. Dreaming of a future together Erik Johnsen lives in Lier, and Hanne Semner often comes to visit from her apartment on Ås. The young couple dreams of becoming cohabitants and getting married in the future. – We are completely ordinary girlfriends like everyone else, says Johnsen. TAKE THE MATCH: Semner and Johnsen will fight for more people to have the same language opportunities as them. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / NRK Semner says that falling in love is “a very delicious feeling”. – A dance on roses most often.
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