01/09/2026
We support many clients that have speech but are not conversational or able to fully express themselves using speech. Spelling helps them to access deeper & more meaningful communication. They have SO much more to say than what their mouth says 🧡
Did you know Nonspeaking does not necessarily mean no speech? It is an umbrella term that includes minimally speaking and unreliably speaking individuals. So what does this mean? 🤔
Many Spellers have limited speech. Some have what would be considered “a lot” of speech. They can label objects, use routine phrases (eg, “I want water”, “Where is mom?”) and answer common questions (asking their name, asking how they feel, yes/no questions, etc). HOWEVER, their speech is often unreliable. What is “unreliable speech”?
Simply put, unreliable speech means that what someone says is NOT comprehensive of their thoughts and often times, what comes out of their mouth does not match what they are thinking.
We like to think of unreliable speech as an individual’s mouth having a “word bank” to pull from. Those are the words that their mouth muscles have practiced over & over, making it automatic for them to say. When the muscle movement becomes purposeful (ie, they’re trying to say something/convey an original thought), that automatic/overlearned movement often takes over.
Sometimes what’s said makes contextual sense: Someone falls and the Speller says, “Are you ok?”, but maybe what they wanted to say was “That looks like it really hurt - can I get you some ice?” Or maybe, you ask a Speller what they want to eat and they say “a cheeseburger” but what they really wanted to say was “chicken alfredo.”
If an individual has difficulty answering non-routine questions or answers are unreliable (we frequently see this with yes/no questions), spelling is often a great way to increase reliability in communication! It all comes down to supporting the brain-body connection! 🧠 🔗
