Freeing the Mind: A Nonspeaking Autistic’s Case for Presuming Competence

• By: Elsa Jean Pace Nonspeaking Autistic Self-Advocate
• July 9th, 2026
• aac communication, apraxia, autism education, autistic self-advocacy, letter board, motor planning, nonspeaking autistic, presuming competence, Summer 2026 Issue
• 9    0

Many nonspeakers are still locked in the prison of their own mind. Nonspeakers are underestimated because our bodies and brains are disconnected. Our minds work, but not with our body, so people conclude we are unintelligent. Apraxia is not well understood by parents, teachers, therapists, and the...

The Power of Presuming Competence: A Nonspeaker’s Call to Action

• By: Jace Pooley Nonspeaking Autistic Self-Advocate
• July 9th, 2026
• alternative communication, autism advocacy, communication access, letterboards, motor planning, nonspeaking, presuming competence, self-advocates, Summer 2026 Issue
• 5    0

I stop and think about what I went through as a young child all the time. On a scale of 0 to 10, so many of the therapies that overtook my life would get a negative number! It wasn't that the therapists were bad people; it was because the initial premise of the treatments was fatally flawed. How? I...