Letter Speak Services

22/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/14aY8mVG5yD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

There have been a lot of questions / comments in different groups asking if text-based communication (spelling, pointing, typing) is really a good option if individuals use their natural speech in ways others perceive as “functional.”

Nick’s lived experience is crucial to understanding why we need to introduce AAC / other forms of communication to folks who may appear at first glance to have no need for assistive tech.

In a blog that includes the words in this post, Nick writes,
Have you ever had a word or song stuck in your head?

It isn’t that you want to look at a new car but you can’t stop singing the Cars 4 Kids jingle. You both don’t want a new credit card and don’t intend to change banks but you can’t stop hearing, “what’s in YOUR wallet?”

Chances are anyone who heard you humming or decrying the stuckness of the jingle just empathized with your frustration and continued to speak to you as usual.
This is not the case if you are autistic.

My brain and speech are stuck in a continuous loop of repeating scripts from cartoons I watched as a kid. I can’t stop my mouth. I’m scripting dumb Thomas the Tank words as I type this.

I am getting rather tired of people hearing my repeated scripts and assuming I don’t really understand.

The truth is I don’t care about trains but I had the bad luck of hearing these catchy shows when my brain was young and malleable.

My speech goes beyond what I think of as unreliable. To me it is reliably annoying.
Until I learned to type my thoughts the whole world believed my capacity to think and learn was far gone. Now that I can show otherwise my life is becoming more full.

My point is that my collection of sayings and songs has probably kept people from believing I am smart.

Until someone has a way to really communicate, take their scripts in stride and speak to them like they understand everything you say"

[id: a photo of Nick from behind, typing on a bluetooth keyboard hooked up to his iPad. Some of his words from the caption are shared on the post.]

22/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/18R4qS9JN7/?mibextid=wwXIfr

What a difference it makes in our mindset and our teaching when we presume competence in our students and embrace the understanding that what may look like "bad behavior" is quite possibly the response of a brain-body disconnect.

Our student Ethan Statter wrote these words to share about his experience of disconnection and struggle between his brain and body.

Hero or Villain

Oftentimes in life, people experience feeling like a villain and a hero. This is something I feel quite often. I am a villain to myself, when I can’t control my body.

The brain body disconnect I feel is real. It’s hard to describe.

Imagine an angel and a devil. The angel is my brain telling me everything I want and need to do. The devil is my body losing control and taking over.

Imagine what this daily battle feels like, when you know right from wrong.

My brain is the hardest working part of my entire being. I gear up for the war against my body each day, wondering if they will ever agree.

The angel has to win.

I have to love my body but how can I when it’s in a constant battle against me. Who am I? Am I my brain or my body? I’m tired of being torn in two.

I need to give myself grace. The grace to succeed and permission to love myself, even in moments of weakness.

Notes from Ethan: I was inspired to write this poem when my brain and body were not cooperating with one another. The challenges nonspeaking autistic humans face can be tough. At times our bodies don't match our thoughts. Hence the devil and angel comparison. The brain body disconnect is something I write about frequently because it is misunderstood. I know the others in this community can relate. We have to stick together.

[id: a photograph of Ethan sitting with his arms and legs crossed, chin resting on his hands. He is gazing toward the ground. Some words from Ethan's portion of the caption are printed on the photo in white text with teal accents.]

19/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DSP58h2bM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

What Does “Evidence-Based” Actually Mean?

“Evidence-based” is often used to guide decisions in education and therapy.

In theory, it means practices supported by research.
But in practice, it often becomes a filter, limiting access to approaches that may not yet be widely studied, but are effective for the individual.

Research is important.
But it is not the whole picture.

For many nonspeaking individuals, meaningful communication is achieved through methods that reflect their unique motor, sensory, and regulatory needs. Needs that are not always fully represented in traditional research.

Lived experience matters.
Individual outcomes matter.

When we only rely on what has already been studied, we risk overlooking what is actually working.

Evidence should inform decisions while honoring individual outcomes.

19/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CWy9RmZnp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

One of the biggest misconceptions we find when working with folks who are just learning about text-based communication is that all it should take for a student to be able to communicate is providing the right piece of technology (why can't she just use the talking keyboard?) or just placing a board in front of them (why won't he spell when I put the board in front of him?)

These questions inform how we provide training and support to schools. But that school has to be invested in the training.

Sometimes, they say some version of "Sure, you can have a letterboard / keyboard. Just pick it up and use it."

That statement tells us we have more work to do educating about why a student can't necessarily just pick up a board or type on a laptop.

They need
* training that includes a foundation in presuming competence and using strengths-based language.
* to understand apraxia & the brain-body disconnect.
* to understand the importance of building a balanced relationship between student & support staff.
* to learn how & when to prompt a student's movement, eyes, posture, attention - and when to fade those prompts.
* to learn how to adapt academic assignments to make them accessible in different ways without losing their grade-level integrity.

It's SO much more than just holding up a board.

As our student TJ writes, "I’m pleading for my right to communicate with someone trained to support me. Would you give a Deaf student interpreters who don’t really know ASL? Just like knowing how to finger spell doesn’t mean you can sign, holding a board up doesn’t mean you can support my communication."

For this sort of comprehensive training, we recommend Communication for Education. We are partners and have worked with around 300 educators, direct support providers, parents, administrators, and related service professionals.

[id: a photo of TJ, a young man with dark, shoulder length hair and glasses, seated pointing to letters on a board held by his communication partner, Lisa, who is standing next to him. TJ's words from the post are printed in white text with blue accents.]

15/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EBgKsXjJV/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/17SfTdE4tS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🤷 Speller Story: What Do People Misunderstand?

⭐️ Elizabeth says:

PEOPLE EQUATE NONSPEAKING WITH NONTHINKING.

NONSPEAKERS CAN UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING GOING ON AROUND US.

WE JUST CAN’T GET WORDS OUT OF OUR MOUTHS.

Nonspeaking Autism is often accompanied by apraxia, which is a motor disorder, not a cognitive one. This means your nonspeaker is very likely capable of much more than you think.

Everything you think you know about nonspeaking autism - reconsider

Teach your nonspeaker to type to communicate free of charge with C4A Academy: https://communication4all.org/c4a-academy/

08/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DKLXpt7if/?mibextid=wwXIfr

How many students are being denied a real education and actual inclusion with their peers? Every student has a right to education with their peers.

How many schools will tell you that a diagnosis will drive a student's placement? Disability or diagnosis should NOT be used to determine placement.

"I used to spend every day in a self-contained autism classroom and it slowly became torture. The adults who worked with me were so kind but I was treated like a toddler no matter how many years passed. Finally getting access to age-appropriate education saved my life."

William Assimakopoulos, REV Student

[William, a young man with brown hair is wearing a teal Reach Every Voice t-shirt and smiling. His words from the quote above are printed in white text on the photograph.]

07/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17BKjsWjEc/?mibextid=wwXIfr

04/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BQ5jdHnLQ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Dear Friends,
Last year, Tara and another S2C practitioner started holding speller study group sessions for several of us older spellers. This was an effort to provide much-needed intellectual stimulation and social time. We are so starved for both.

We called these "salons" after the French tradition of intellectual gatherings. This was a dream of mine: time with a group of friends spent sharing our ideas and learning together.

Tara always cautioned: "I am not going to start a day program! That is way more than I can take on." And I respect that. But she and her collaborator Gigi couldn't sit by while we had such a need for any activity that would be intellectually and socially fulfilling. So they decided to offer these study group series to help fill the gap.

They started with the Coursera course by U Penn, Modern and Contemporary American Poetry or ModPo, that I took five years ago. We met once every two weeks to review material and discuss. We loved it! It was so much fun. And I learned a lot from how my friends responded to the poetry.

Now we are doing weekly meet-ups to discuss Judith Heumann's memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. This has been fantastic! We are discussing deep ideas about disability and inclusion and advocacy. My friends are finding newfound conviction in their right to have a fulfilling life and to stand up for that right.

These salon series will continue through the year. I am so proud of Tara for doing this and thankful to Gigi for hosting many of the gatherings. I appreciate them creating this space.

The need for truly challenging intellectual stimulation is so real. Our brains crave it. I hope one day our intellects are truly appreciated by more of society. I am not saying this out of arrogance, and I don't think intelligence should be a requirement for being treated with respect, but I am sharing that our minds want to be engaged and there is so much we can share with the world with the right support and opportunities.

Your Friend,
Danny

29/03/2026

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1599718215493627&id=100063663907307

Marc's latest blog "Yeats" is an awesome and uplifting post about how much he is loving his poetry class, his growing passion for poetry and learning in general, and more. It's a great read, we love to see it Marc!

https://www.mouthtohandlearning.com/xplain-this/yeats #/