Galia always radiated with happiness when I came to visit her. She would hug me and place her wizened arms around my neck with all her might. We would sit in silence, hugging each other  a mother
and her daughter sharing love without words.

I finally felt that my luck had improved. I thought about par-
ents who abandon their unfortunate children in institutions and
"forget" about them forever. These parents, immediately follow-
ing childbirth, give up on their brain-damaged children, not hav-
ing the emotional strength to face their challenge, and so are
doomed to spend their entire life mourning over the normal child
they had longed for but not received. I did not blame them. I
shared their pain.

One evening, I happened to hear about a talk on the subject
of communicating with autistic people. The lecture was to take
place in a public hall called Mofet  "Wonder"  in Kiryat Ono.

I attended, expecting to hear from a medical expert. To my sur-
prise, the lecturer was a bearded rabbi from Jerusalem, Rabbi
Yehuda Srevnik. This lecture was to cause a complete turnaround
in me. You never know how and when you will be confronted
with the catalyst that will change your entire life.

I turned up at the talk totally irreligious. I had tousled hair and
wore white pants. Modesty in dress or grooming was not even a
consideration for me then.

Rabbi Srevnik talked about how it is possible to communicate
with autistic and brain damaged persons using a new method of
communication called Facilitated Communication. Through FC,
people with mental incompetence and autism point at an alpha-
bet board and write extraordinary messages. Among other
things, he said that these people claim that this is not their first
time on earth. They can tell you who they were in their previous
incarnation, about the next world, and the Heavenly Court.

The lecture was augmented by videos showing proof of this
phenomenon. An American film was projected on a large screen
that showed American children communicating through FC.
Some of them had become gifted students, studying math, biolo-
gy, composing poems, articles, etc.

At the end of the riveting talk, I went up to the Rabbi. I told
him about my Galia and asked him if I, too, could "talk" with my
brain-damaged daughter. He answered affirmatively and gave me
the telephone number of an American woman who had studied
FC in the States, and had since immigrated to Israel. I called the
facilitator at my first opportunity and we arranged a time to have
an FC session with Galia. The facilitator did not know me, nor
had I ever met or heard of her before.

The prospect of communicating with Galia gave me no rest.
With great excitement, I tried to imagine myself communicating
with her. What I was going to say to my daughter after ten years
of total silence? By this time Galia was ten years old, and this
would be my first opportunity to communicate with her.

I began preparing for the session by writing down a list
of questions such as:

Why did you come to this world in this condition?
What can I do for you?
Of course, there were many other questions as well.

At the top of the page, I wrote down:
"Galia, I love you."
It was imperative for me to tell her that I loved her.

     next - The very beginning of  Facilitated Communication with Galia

Back cover, publisher information, letter to Galia, and Prayer,
Facilitated Communication - introductory background
My background and the early years
My discovery of Facilitated Communication
The very beginning of  Facilitated Communication with Galia
cont. the beginning FC communications with Galia
a sample from the communications with Galia