Reach Every Voice

03/28/2026

03/27/2026

🌞Looking for a summer program that prioritizes communication, connection, and meaningful participation?

Summer Institute at Reach Every Voice is a communication-centered learning experience where students engage in interest-based lessons, shared discussions supported by AAC, and guided peer interaction in a supportive small-group environment.

📍 Gaithersburg, MD
👥 Small groups (max 8 students)

Summer 2026 sessions:
June 22 – July 2
July 6 – July 17
July 20 – July 31

Learn more and register on our website or check the comment below 👇

03/26/2026

When we hired Erin Buchanan as our Program Director last September, she came to us from Frederick County Public Schools as a Teacher of the Year, deeply skilled in AAC support, and completely burned out by a system that made it nearly impossible to do the work the way it needed to be done.

In her first piece for the REV blog, Erin writes about behavior labels, math closets, funding politics, and what it finally felt like to presume competence as an actual practice rather than a line in a plan.

If you've ever sat in a meeting and watched a student's needs get negotiated down to what's convenient, this one is for you. Link in first comment.

03/25/2026

Awareness is the first step.
Action creates access.

For many nonspeaking students, meaningful change happens when educators allow processing time, include students in academic discussions, and presume competence.

Small shifts in practice can open the door to communication, participation, and learning.

💾 Save this post to revisit or share with colleagues working to create more inclusive learning environments.

03/23/2026

The best PD puts you in the room to practice -- with the people who know communication partnership from the inside.

REV's Communication Partner Skill Building Intensive is coming to Gaithersburg, MD this May. 2.5 days. Nonspeaking presenters leading Saturday afternoon. A Sunday session where parents can bring their own child for coaching.

Registration link in the first comment.

03/22/2026

We see this all the time in schools.

People are doing the same drills they've been doing since their students were in kindergarten and now they're in 10th grade.

They have the same IEP goals.

They're still working on the same basic tasks.

Don't we want to ask the question, WHY?

How would you feel if at the age of 5 and the age of 15 you were working on the same thing?

Is it really that you don't know what you're doing or have you become so disenfranchised in this entire "educational" process that you've just stopped caring?

This is a theme among the things our students share. So much so that this post and our next will both address it.

Gordy tells us, "Imagine spending every day from age 5 to 21 looking at clocks, coins, and colors. Are you bored enough to riot? Are you defeated enough to unravel your shorts and eat them? I’ve been there and it sucks. If I could change just one thing about education before I die, it would be the idea that nonspeaking people can’t handle real academics. Do better."

Let's make this the year we actually follow through and do better. Want an easy place to get started? Check out this info on our Accessible Academics course - a super affordable, lifetime access, self-paced course designed to help parents or educators learn easy ways to make real academic content accessible to their learners who don't speak and may be communicating just by making choices.

We've helped more than 300 folks get started with this course. Let us help you, too.

Check the comments for a link to the Accessible Academics course👇

03/20/2026

🌞 REV Summer 2026: Tweens & Teens

Tweens & teens deserve spaces where communication is supported and ideas are valued.

REV’s Tweens & Teens Collaborative Learning Group is an in-person summer program for ages 11–16 focused on discussion-based learning, connection, and growing independence.

📍 Gaithersburg & Severna Park
🗓 Weekly series + one-week intensive option

Spots are limited. See the link in the comments for more info!👇

03/16/2026

Processing time ≠ lack of understanding.

If a student doesn’t respond quickly, we often assume they don’t know.

But many students, especially those who type or use AAC, need extra time to organize their thoughts and access their communication system.

Silence can mean thinking.
Waiting can mean depth.
Time can mean rigor.

When we honor processing time, we honor intelligence.

Save this as a reminder. 💛

03/15/2026

Thank you to the Partnership for Extraordinary Minds for hosting an amazing IEP Clinic today ! We were there with Reach Every Voice, and the resources available to support the community were incredible.

Parents and educators came to our table with all kinds of questions and needs. But every single one of them was interested in Adaptiverse, because it supports access to real learning for all students, not just the learners REV typically serves.

Adaptiverse adapts grade-level lessons so that every student, including nonspeaking and partially speaking learners, can access the same curriculum as their peers. No watered-down content. No separate track. Just the right supports built in.

Want to see how it works? Check out the link in the comments.

03/14/2026

The first photo is one of Lisa's students back in 2010. He's dressed up like Ivan Rodriguez (a Washington Nationals player back then), he used AAC to augment his natural speech, and he presented in his school's living wax museum just like every other kid in his class.

The photo on the right is Charlotte. The year is 2025. She's autistic and nonspeaking, she uses AAC, and last week she presented in her school's living wax museum only because her mom fought for her to be included.

Sixteen years apart. Same project, same accommodations, same outcome: a student showing what they know, alongside their peers.

None of this required new research or new technology. The knowledge, tools, and evidence base have been there for decades. What's missing is the belief that autistic learners with communication support needs belong in the room where it happens.

We have to stop treating inclusion like it's experimental. It's not. It's a right. And for families like Charlotte's, every year we delay is a year their child spends excluded from the peers, the curriculum, and the community they belong in.

03/13/2026

🌞 REV Summer 2026: Little Learners

Our Little Learners program is designed specifically for students ages 5–10 who are building communication skills in a supportive, small-group setting.

Over four days, students will practice meaningful communication, collaborate with peers, and build friendships — all while having fun.

📍 Gaithersburg
📅 August 3–6 (Mon–Thurs)
⏰ 10:30–11:45 AM
👥 Group size limited to 4 students

Check the comments for the link to sign up👇

We can’t wait to see you this summer!