Non-speaking autistic children are continually underestimated. By society, by professionals, by many people surrounding them & judged almost entirely by what they can or cannot do.

One of the biggest underestimations that came for us surrounded communication & was in our early days of appointments with Paediatricians & Speech Therapists. Oh “he’s in his own world, it will be very hard for you to enter it”, “he’s way too young for an AAC device”, “he won’t have the attention span for that”, “he may never, ever speak”, “there’s nothing we can do to help you…” – whilst no-one even mentioned an AAC device or even hinted that this could be a possibility for us. Even worse, when we bought up the possibility & wanted to find out more – we were hit with a barrage of misinformation & myths almost designed to put us off & make us terrified of even trying entirely. Gosh, if we try one we could stop him speaking or make him too lazy to do so?! How is this still believed & repeated by anyone, let alone professionals. [For clarity: this statement is false – statistics & research prove AAC supports verbal words & supports communication in every way.]

What an entirely different appointment it would have been if we were recommended an AAC device, shown videos of other children like ours using them, could have all our AAC questions answered & the software required recommend or loaned to us. It would have been a huge beacon of light, positivity & hope in what was & often is for many families like ours, a very dark time. Instead of misinformation we would have felt supported, instead of stereotypes we would have had hard facts & instead of leaving filling disheartened & broken we would of been filled with the hope of possibility.

How is it possible that parents of non-speaking children, like us, can attend appointments directly with Speech Therapists & Paediatricians & there’s not one mention of an AAC device from them – only us, the parents bring it up? I am on a mission to change this. Through my advocacy, my speaking opportunities, my webinars, my guides, my social media accounts + many more of my advocacy plans for 2026 – this has to change. I hear often from families & did only yesterday again that my words ring in their ears at their appointments clarifying that their child isn’t too young to try a device etc, my two AAC guides support families at a time when often no-one else is – but I want to do more.

Also I want to strive to make it easier if a professional does bring up an AAC device for families to get a funded AAC without jumping through so many hoops. Hoops, checklists & tick boxes which often are impossible for many autistic children to maybe ever achieve.

Non-speaking children & their families deserve better.

I would love to hear from you if you’ve had any of the same experiences as I mention above, or relate to my words at all. If you’re a professional, speech therapist, AAC user, parent of an AAC user, teacher, AT professional – or have any thoughts to share – please email me on [email protected].

At the recent ceremony at The House of Lords I had a fantastic conversation with my MP about all the above & have emailed to arrange a further discussion in the New Year – watch this space.