Rooted Beginnings, LLC

06/17/2026

As I prepare to begin my practitioner training through the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC), I have been trying to learn as much as I can. I have been reading books and blogs, listening to podcasts and interviews, watching documentaries, and seeking out the stories of nonspeaking, minimally speaking, and unreliably speaking individuals and their families.
Recently, while listening to a podcast, I heard a story that I have not been able to stop thinking about.
A couple in their 80s shared that it took 57 years before they were able to truly hear their daughter's thoughts, feelings, ideas, opinions, and experiences through spelling.
Fifty-seven years.
As someone who is almost 57 years old myself, that number landed hard.
I cannot imagine living an entire lifetime without a reliable way to communicate my thoughts, feelings, memories, hopes, fears, opinions, and dreams. I cannot imagine reaching nearly 60 years of age before people had access to what I had been trying to say all along.
That story is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Beautiful because her parents were finally able to hear their daughter's voice.
Heartbreaking because it took 57 years.
Think about everything that happened during those decades. Birthdays. Holidays. Friendships. Losses. Milestones. Questions never asked. Stories never told. Thoughts never shared. An entire lifetime lived without access to a reliable means of communication.
And that brings me to ethics.
I am repeatedly told that Spelling to Communicate is controversial. I am told it is not considered evidence-based by some professional organizations. I am told it should be approached with skepticism.
But I think we need to ask a different question.
What is more ethical?
Questioning a communication method while continuing to explore, learn, listen, and remain curious?
Or gatekeeping access to communication because it challenges long-held assumptions about speech, intelligence, competence, and disability?
For decades, speech has been treated as the gold standard. If a person could not speak reliably, many assumed they did not understand. If they could not demonstrate knowledge through speech, many assumed the knowledge was not there.
But communication and speech are not the same thing.
Thinking and speaking are not the same thing.
Understanding and speaking are not the same thing.
A person can know exactly what they want to say and still struggle to get their body to cooperate.
As an autistic self-advocate, I also view this through the lens of neurodiversity.
Neurodiversity was created by disabled people. It emerged from disabled voices demanding the right to define their own experiences and participate in decisions that affect their lives. One of its foundational principles is "Nothing About Us Without Us."
To me, that matters.
If disabled people are not helping create the framework, shape the curriculum, teach the training, and lead the conversation, then it is difficult to call something truly neurodiversity-affirming.
Disabled lived experience is expertise.
Nonspeaking people deserve to be heard.
Spellers deserve to be heard.
Autistic people deserve to be heard.
And when nonspeaking individuals repeatedly tell us that they understand more than they have been given credit for, I believe we have an ethical responsibility to listen.
The story of a woman waiting 57 years to communicate should stop all of us in our tracks.
Not because it proves anything.
But because it forces us to ask what might happen when we underestimate people.
How many others are still waiting?
How many thoughts remain trapped behind bodies that do not consistently do what they are asked to do?
How many people have been denied access to a voice because the system could not imagine another possibility?
Communication is a human right.
That belief is one of the reasons I am pursuing training through I-ASC, and I am eager to continue learning from nonspeaking individuals, spellers, families, and practitioners as I begin this journey.
If you are curious about Spelling to Communicate or would like to learn more about the training I am completing, please feel free to reach out. I am always happy to share resources and continue the conversation.

06/16/2026

This Saturday marks the kick off of my practitioner training through the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC), and I am incredibly excited to begin this next chapter.

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of knowing children and adults who have consistently challenged society's assumptions about communication, intelligence, and competence. Too often, we assume that if someone cannot speak reliably, they have little to say. Yet communication is so much bigger than speech.

S2C is an approach that recognizes that many nonspeaking, minimally speaking, and unreliably speaking individuals may understand far more than they can currently express. By teaching purposeful motor skills and providing access to letters as a means of communication, individuals have the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas, opinions, humor, creativity, and experiences in ways that may not have previously been accessible.

For me, this work is rooted in a simple belief: communication is a human right.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to tell their own story.

Everyone deserves to have their thoughts and ideas heard.

Everyone deserves to be presumed competent and offered meaningful opportunities to communicate.

As someone who has spent years supporting neurodivergent children and families through a developmental-relational and neurodiversity-affirming lens, becoming an S2C practitioner feels like a natural extension of the work I already love.

I am eager to learn from experienced practitioners, from spellers themselves, and from the families who have entrusted me to walk alongside them on this journey.

I am especially grateful to the families who will be joining me as part of my first S2C cohort. Your trust means more than I can say.

I truly believe that every person has something to say. My hope is that this training will allow me to help create more opportunities for those voices to be heard here in Western New York.

Curious to learn more? email me at [email protected]

06/16/2026

06/16/2026

06/15/2026

Curious?

📣 You Asked, We Listened! 📣

We heard your requests, and we're excited to announce that we're now offering a July PDA 101 session! 🎉

Whether you're new to learning about PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance/Persistent Drive for Autonomy), need a refresher, or want to better support a loved one, student, or client, this webinar is for you. PDA North America has added a July session due to community demand, and it's FREE to attend!

📅 July 9
⏰ 7:00 PM Central
🎟️ Free to join! Comment 101JUL26 for the direct link to register

06/15/2026

Please like, share, and comment on my original post! Have you watched the movie yet?

https://www.://www.youtube.com/...

06/14/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0

I have spent my career working alongside children and adults whose communication styles fall outside what our systems consider typical. Like many professionals, I was trained in systems that often viewed speech as the primary—or sometimes only—pathway to communication.

When someone was not speaking or was speaking unreliably, the assumption was often that the solution was more speech therapy, more speech goals, or more opportunities to practice speech.

Spellers challenged me to consider a different possibility: what if some individuals understand far more than they are able to demonstrate because of challenges with motor planning, sensory processing, and body control? What if the issue is not a lack of understanding, but a lack of access?

These questions led me to learn more about Spelling to Communicate (S2C) and the work of Elizabeth Vosseller.

While there is ongoing controversy and debate surrounding spelling as a form of communication, I believe those conversations should never prevent us from remaining curious, listening to disabled people, and exploring ways to increase access for individuals who have historically been underestimated.

What stood out to me most in Spellers was not a methodology. It was the humanity of the individuals featured in the film. It was the opportunity to hear directly from people whose thoughts, opinions, humor, intelligence, and personalities had often been overlooked because they could not reliably express themselves through speech.

Their stories raise important questions about how we define communication, who gets believed, and how often we confuse a person's ability to control their body with their ability to think.
Communication is a human right. Every person deserves opportunities to express themselves, share their ideas, participate in decisions about their own lives, and be presumed capable of having thoughts worth hearing.

For me, pursuing training as an I-ASC practitioner is an extension of that belief.

I am not interested in gatekeeping communication. I am interested in expanding it.

I want families in Western New York to have access to more options, more support, and more opportunities to determine what works for themselves and their children.

I want to continue learning from non-speaking and unreliably speaking individuals themselves, because their lived experiences matter.

And I want to be part of building a world where access to communication is not determined by whether someone's body can produce speech.

If you have not seen Spellers, I am linking it here! Come back here and comment your thoughts once you watch the movie!

If you are someone who is interested in learning how to spell, or if you know someone who might be interested, please email me at [email protected] to learn more.

https://www.://www.youtube.com/...

06/12/2026

This afternoon, I officially accepted a spot in the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC) 2026 S2C Practitioner Training Cohort.

For those unfamiliar with S2C (Spelling to Communicate), it is a method used by some nonspeaking, minimally speaking, and unreliably speaking individuals to communicate by pointing to letters on a letterboard or keyboard.

The approach is grounded in the understanding that the challenge is not be a lack of understanding or intelligence, but rather significant motor differences that make speech and other forms of communication difficult to access reliably.

S2C seeks to provide an alternative pathway for communication while presuming competence and honoring the individual's right to express their thoughts, ideas, preferences, and experiences.

I am excited, grateful, humbled, and honestly pretty emotional.

What feels most significant about this moment has very little to do with earning a credential. It has everything to do with the people who brought me here.

Over more than three decades of working alongside children and families, there have been students I have never forgotten.

Students whose intelligence shined through despite having limited reliable speech. Students who seemed to understand far more than they were able to demonstrate. Students who I knew needed something different, even if I couldn't yet name what that was.

Those students have stayed with me.

As an autistic person, questions about communication, belonging, autonomy, and access have never been abstract concepts. They have shaped the way I teach, the way I advocate, and the way I understand the world.

Throughout my career, I have consistently found myself drawn to the children and adults who are most often underestimated—the individuals whose strengths are hidden behind assumptions, whose competence is questioned, and whose potential is judged by what others can see rather than what they may actually know.

The more I have learned about motor differences, apraxia, and the lived experiences of nonspeaking autistic individuals, the more I have found myself asking difficult questions about how we define communication, who gets access to it, and how many people have been left without meaningful opportunities to express themselves.

Some of the children and families I currently work with are part of the reason I applied for this training. I see individuals every day who deserve more options, more access, and more opportunities to communicate in ways that work for them. I see families searching for answers, trying to understand their children, and hoping someone will be willing to look beyond traditional assumptions.

That is why this opportunity means so much to me.

I do not see this training as the destination. I see it as the beginning of a learning journey that I hope will allow me to better support individuals who have been denied a voice for far too long. Not because they had nothing to say, but because we have not always known how to listen.

I enter this process with curiosity, humility, and a deep respect for the responsibility that comes with this work. I know there is so much I have to learn, and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn it.

Most of all, I am hopeful. Hopeful that I can become a better support to the individuals and families who trust me. Hopeful that more people will have access to communication options that honor their autonomy and competence. Hopeful that we can continue moving toward a world where communication is recognized as a human right rather than a privilege.

The kick off begins next week and I cannot wait to get started.

For those who have been following this journey, I am working to identify the initial group of individuals I will be working with during my training.

I know there are many families and individuals who are curious about S2C, motor differences, apraxia, and communication access.

If you are an individual, caregiver, or family member interested in learning more, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

During my training period, participation will be offered on a donation-based, pay-what-you-can model as I continue learning under supervision and mentorship.

My hope is to make this opportunity accessible while also building a community of learners who believe that everyone deserves access to communication and the presumption of competence.

06/11/2026

👀👀👀

06/11/2026

If you are an autistic person, a person with a disability, a parent, caregiver, family member, or someone who has tried to navigate OPWDD services in Western New York, I strongly encourage you to attend one of these forums.

For years, I have sat alongside families trying to access services through OPWDD. While the system provides critical support to many people, I also hear the same concerns repeated over and over again.

Families waiting months or years for services.

Families struggling to understand an incredibly complicated system.

Families receiving conflicting information depending on who they speak with.

Families experiencing repeated turnover among Care Managers and support staff.

Families approved for services but unable to find workers.

Families trying to access Self-Direction and feeling overwhelmed by the process.

Families who are denied, delayed, or discouraged and simply stop pursuing services because they no longer have the time, energy, resources, or emotional capacity to keep fighting.

And perhaps most concerning of all, I know many families whose children would likely qualify for OPWDD services but who never make it through the process at all.

When a system is difficult to understand, difficult to access, and difficult to sustain, the people who are most impacted are often the people with the fewest resources to navigate it.

This forum is an opportunity to talk honestly about those experiences.

What barriers have you encountered?
What supports have been helpful?
What services are missing?
What does high-quality support actually look like for your family?
How can OPWDD better serve the people it was created to support?

The reality is that policies and strategic plans are only as good as the experiences of the people living them. If OPWDD is creating its next five-year strategic plan, then they need to hear directly from self-advocates, families, and community members about what is working—and what is not.

The Buffalo forum will be held on July 15 from 5:30–7:30 PM, with virtual options available as well.

If you have ever felt frustrated, confused, unsupported, or invisible while trying to navigate this system, I encourage you to show up and share your experience.



Let's make sure Western New York's families are part of this conversation.

SC for links!