Growing Kids Therapy Center (GKTC)

We contacted GKTC and started our first session with Jason in February 2022. This privately funded center is dedicated to teaching non-speaking, minimally speaking and unreliably speaking individuals how to spell to communicate.

Many individuals with autism also have apraxia, which means they struggle to control their bodies and make them do what they want. Having OCD and ADHD also creates additional challenges resulting in repetitive behaviors (loops) and tics.

S2C teaches individuals with motor challenges the purposeful motor skills necessary to point to letters to spell as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). The goal is to achieve synchrony between the brain and body.

Jason began on a big series of boards with only a few letters so it would be easier to touch. Then he graduated to a stencil board of all 26 letters with a weighed pencil to slow his movement down and be more precise in poking through the stencil letters. Jason is also working with a laminate, smaller board with S2C.

Here is a link to a piece that aired on a local Washington, DC, TV network on 24 June 2025 that helps illustrate the S2C approach and the impact that is it having on so many non-speakers and their families. It includes an interview with Elizabeth Vosseller, the founder and Executive Director of the International Association of Spelling as Communications (I-ASC):

https://www.fox5dc.com/video/1663788

From our very first session, Jason was calm and accepting. Jason was assigned to work with Katlyn as his Communication and Regulation Partner (CRP) in 50 minute, one-on-one sessions.

Geoff & Nomy accompanied him in these sessions twice a week and later on increased it to three times a week (the third session is with a group of Jason's spelling peers). We have been so fortunate to have started with Katlyn who is still working with Jason today. They have a very special bond.

One of the key tenants of S2C is presume competence, meaning that the autistic spellers absolutely know what they are being asked and know the answer.

The intent is not to test their knowledge of the age appropriate (in Jason’s case, college level) material. Instead, the session is to practice the purposeful motor skills to enable the speller to touch the right letter on the spelling board. It takes practice and practice over many months and years to get proficient and every autistic individual progresses at a different level because, as we know, everyone on the Autism spectrum is unique.

From the very first lesson, Jason was read and asked to respond to very challenging topics, such as on the background on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, fighting wildfires with the California Bureau of Land Management, and innovative technology developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It is amazing how smart Jason and the other spellers are and how much they want to share their thoughts.

Another key tenant of S2C is to feed the brain, so Jason's parents started playing interesting and age-appropriate podcasts and audiobooks in the car and TV shows at home for Jason.

Since Jason did not receive normal history, science and other age-appropriate classes through elementary, middle and high schools, Jason has been able to listen to educational material and audiobooks, such Sapiens, A Brief History of Mankind by Yuval Noah Harai.

In addition, after completing a six-week syllabus of Creative Writing with Katlyn at the Growing Kids Therapy Center, Jason was interested in learning more about different types of writing styles, such as Dystopia, Fantasy, and Fiction. Therefore, Jason and his Dad embarked on listening to all the Harry Potter audiobooks and watched each movie after listening to that book.

Jason also enjoys listening to the BBC podcasts and other nature and science associated stories.

Big emotional things can trigger impulsive, automatic behaviors. Motor loops are when the autistic individual is stuck doing a repetitive behavior over and over again, like Jason bending down to touch the ground or getting up to open and close the door over and over again.

Sensory sensitivities can also cause errors and impact the motor skills. All of this plays into Jason’s ability to control his body and accuracy in touching the right letter.

It is also important to keep in mind that even with the remarkable progress and ability to communicate through a spelling board, the autistic aspects of the individual do not go away.

Jason's family has noticed a much calmer side to Jason, probably because he knows that he is getting through to them and that they treat him and speak to him differently now that they know that he completely understands everything that they say.

It is so hard to imagine what it would be like to be locked inside your body, as if someone put duct tape across your mouth and you couldn’t talk. And that you couldn’t control your body which prevented you from typing on a keyboard or using sign language to express yourself that way.

Jason is the most courageous person. Through it all, and as you will see in the story of his journey, he could have been very bitter and angry for all those years where no one heard or understood him. It must have been so very frustrating.

However, Jason has so much positivity, curiosity and love to give. He has been such a remarkable ambassador and representative for the non-speaking community through his words that he spells. It has taken Jason two years to become a proficient and open speller to be able to express himself.

The goal of Jason's family is to be able to integrate the spelling board into more of Jason's daily activities, out in the community, and in life to communicate.

Jason and his Mom, Nomy, have made great progress in being able to use the spelling board at home for specific times, and they are "open" with one another (meaning they are able to communicate freely and express their thoughts with the spelling board), which is another one of many amazing milestones for Team Jason.