Ambitious Communication Coaching for Non-Speaking, Unreliably-Speaking, and Limited-Speaking Individuals
Ambitious Communication Coaching for Non-Speaking, Unreliably-Speaking, and Limited-Speaking Individuals
Spelling Allies teaches a communication method that will improve your loved one’s motor skills and allow them to express more complex thoughts and ideas.
Try the new method that teaches individuals with motor challenges the purposeful skills necessary to spell out the words they want to communicate.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to gain insights into the inner world of your loved one? Imagine the connection and understanding we could achieve by truly knowing them at a profound level!
And wouldn’t it be wonderful to see them thrive because their communication has markedly improved?
This can be your shared reality.
We want to introduce to you the innovative method practiced by Spelling Allies that will finally remove the roadblocks from your loved one’s communication abilities and help them spell out their thoughts in ways you never thought possible.
With 26 letters, there are infinite possibilities.
It’s called Spelling to Communicate, and it may just be the single most effective way to get your non-speaking loved one to improve their communication skills. AND, as an added bonus, it’s relatively straightforward for those with speaking challenges to grasp compared to other communication intervention programs without motor coaching strategies.
Why Spelling to Communicate Works
Have you tried every communication method under the sun for your loved one- but they never seem to progress? Maybe you wish there was some sort of breakthrough available, but it never seems to come.
The fact is, most language and communication programs are designed for the cognitive aspects of communication. They often fail to address the gross motor component of communication.
Spelling to Communicate (or S2C for short) views communication deficits not as a cognitive issue, but as a sensory-motor processing challenge. When motor challenges exist, it becomes physically challenging for the speech articulating muscles of the mouth to formulate speech sounds.
S2C helps our students develop the motor skills to communicate in another way. We calmly and purposefully teach our students to point to letters on a letter board in order to spell out their thoughts, all while providing engaging and fun activities that help cope with dysregulation, redirect our student’s energy, and help them focus. By slowing things down and teaching purposeful motor skills, we are able to help students communicate and express themselves effectively and in ever-more complex ways.
You’ll be amazed at your family member’s ability to express concepts and ideas as they develop greater autonomy and agency over their body.
5 Reasons You Should Try Spelling to Communicate
Alleviate Communication Frustration
Lack of gross motor control is the single most frustrating component of communication for many non-speaking, limited speaking, or unreliably speaking individuals.
We use a hierarchy of verbal and gestural prompts to teach intentional motor skills. This will unlock the ability to communicate, and alleviate the frustration they commonly experience with the inability to express what is inside their head.
Progress to Independent Communication and Whole Body Purposeful Movement
One of our goals is to get our students to achieve the independence for autonomous communication. Our role as practitioners is to help our students focus and provide the correct supports needed to get them there.
Once students have achieved the motor skills for autonomous communication, the focus expands to develop whole body purposeful movement for daily living and achieving personal goals. Once we integrate the spellers cognitive and motor skills, this will lead to improved physical and emotional regulation. In turn, communication and motor control lead to improved access, quality of life and opportunities to be contributing members of society.
See Your Speller Move from Concrete to Abstract
Think your loved one will never be able to express complex thoughts and feelings? You’d be surprised!
Once we teach how to employ simple gross motor skills in order to express themselves on basic topics, they will eventually become comfortable and well-adapted to this new communication technique. Eventually, you'll see them become adept enough to express more complex thoughts, feelings, and ideas. You would have never known what's going on inside their head!
Decrease Anxiety and Injurious Behaviors
Is your household troubled by injurious patterns? Although S2C is not a cure for autism and we can’t make speech happen, once the speller has an outlet to communicate and express themselves, they’ll be less likely to get frustrated, experience anxiety, and lose control of their emotions. People with speaking challenges are just like us - they need physical and mental outlets as well as self-expression in order to maintain a peaceful outlook on life and experience emotional harmony.
Share it With Others
If you’re like most families with a non-speaking, unreliably-speaking, or limited-speaking loved one, you probably know other families who are in the same boat. Once you experience a deeper relationship with your loved one with spelled communication, you’ll want to tell others about this new alternative augmentative communication system.
Imagine the joy of seeing other family’s lives transformed by the power of Spelling to Communicate!
How Spelling to Communicate Works
We get non-speakers communicating in a methodical, step-by step fashion where the speaking-challenged person points to letters on a letter board in order to spell out the words they would like to use. We work with our spellers in individual coaching sessions to progress to more complex letter boards and eventually to typing on a keyboard.
One of the main benefits of Spelling to Communicate is that it provides individuals with a voice, regardless of their sensory-motor differences. By learning intentional motor skills, individuals can express their thoughts, emotions, and desires in a way that was previously not possible. This alternative augmentative communication method has the potential to significantly improve their quality of life and enhance their relationships with others.
What Does a Coaching Session Look Like at Spelling Allies?
We will improve communication skills in 10-45 minute, one-on-one sessions where the student is taught a new, step-by-step method to express themselves by learning to spell out their thoughts. Our goal is to assist the speller (i.e. your loved one) in becoming fluent and accurate on the boards so they can communicate consistently.
Each session progresses from (1) a motor skill activity, to (2) a regulation activity, and finally to (3) spelling.
- Sessions are 10-45 minutes in length. This gives the student enough time to make progress in each session, but sessions are also short enough that the student won’t lose interest.
- The practitioner sits side-by-side with the speller.
- We perform a warm-up exercise together in order to settle the body and mind.
- We read a lesson that is age and interest appropriate.
- We include body breaks if the student is dysregulated, and to break up the session into more manageable chunks.
- Parent(s)/Caregiver(s) are invited to join so that they witness the student’s self-expression and improvement.
- As the student progresses, we will move to the more difficult spelling boards, and also move from closed-ended questions to semi-open and open-ended questions.
- All sessions will be recorded and provided online for review. A transcript will be provided of the questions asked and answers provided.
We ask that parents trust the process. It will take your loved one some time to build the endurance and stamina necessary to spell out their thoughts.
About Your Practitioner
Hi, I’m Vanessa Spriet! I’ve always valued the role of communication throughout my professional career, first as part of the U.S. Air Force and then as a marketing professional, right here in Baker County.
I have a son who is non-speaking. Through our journey of frustration, lack of results, and eventual discovery, we came to find the Spelling to Communicate method.
I was in tears the first time my son, Harley, began to communicate during a S2C session. I knew I had stumbled upon something big, and wanted to share it with the world. I chose to begin practicing Spelling to Communicate so other families could experience the same breakthroughs my family had with our son. In May 2023, I began my journey as a Practitioner in Training, and quickly began taking on new clients.
I act as a “communication regulation partner.” I’ll be there every step of the way to act as a pillar for your speller, coaching them to maintain their focus, and co-regulating throughout our one-on-one sessions, to ease anxiety and fostering confidence with improved motor skills.
I act as a “communication regulation partner.” I’ll be there every step of the way to act as a pillar for your speller, coaching them to maintain their focus, and co-regulating throughout our one-on-one sessions, to ease anxiety and fostering confidence with improved motor skills.
Contact Us and We’ll Spell Out the Road to Effective Communication
I want to be there for your family as a trusted communication partner, an ally and advocate towards communication access.
Let’s hop on a quick consultation call so I can learn more about your loved one and their specific needs. Following our call, we will conduct an in-person evaluation so we can draw up a more extensive plan for future communication coaching. I’m excited and blessed to share the communication coaching method that has proven to be so fruitful for my family as well as many others.
Frequently Asked Questions
I presume a level of intellectual competence in my students and that we must teach gross motor skills in order to unlock their communication abilities. I invite you to share this assumption that your family member knows what to communicate, but they cannot get their body to do what they want. This is why we focus so heavily on improving gross motor abilities.
It may be possible based on your location that I can travel to meet you, or we can alternate between who travels. There are about 250 S2C practitioners throughout the U.S., so I try my best to be accessible.
Even though some sacrifice may be involved on your part, in the end it will be worth it to see your loved one finally communicating their thoughts and ideas.
This method is different because the other therapies depend too much on advanced motor abilities and might or might not, truly presume competence. S2C understands the language centers of the brain are intact, but the sensory-motor centers affect the body. We also understand how apraxia affects communication and needs to be the center of how we implement the method to build and support apraxia. We work on breaking down the gross motor skills needed for communication into the simplest possible movements, then build up our students’ ability to communicate from the ground up.
The evidence we maintain and stand by is brought forward by non-speaking advocates themselves who recommend spelling as an effective, alternative and augmentative communication method. Non-speakers, families, and practitioners throughout the world are showing marked improvement in the quality of their lives with this method. We can connect you with other practitioners or spellers so they can describe the successes they are having with the method, and the independent communication that we are building our spellers towards.
Many non-speaking individuals who are already speaking still present with other sensory-motor challenges. They may be able to muscle through these limitations to a certain extent, but this doesn’t mean they can’t work on other motor skills to improve communication. Working on “the basics” will allow them to achieve more precise communication abilities, and allow them to build towards more advanced communication that was previously not thought to be possible.
