I still remember the day I decided to become a Spelling to Communicate Practitioner. It was at the beginning of the pandemic, and I had just started my practice as a play therapist… and the world was shutting down. My business was put on hold, and I felt defeated and unsure of my next steps. I had a nagging feeling that said, “If not now, when”? I messaged my good friend William and told him I had decided to take the S2C Practitioner training. His response? “NAIL IT SO MY FRIENDS CAN LIVE AT PEACE”. No pressure, nope, none at all! This became the phrase that has stuck with me since 2020 and continues to be the foundation of my practice as a Certified Spelling to Communicate Practitioner with all who enter my clinic.
When I first began my training with I-ASC, I excelled in the learning. My knowledge videos, lessons, and motor task analysis were on point. My paperwork for the Client Competency Videos was impeccable. I loved being back in the “classroom” and soaking up every bit of neuroscience taught. It was a complete paradigm shift as it is for so many of us who have previously worked in this field. I felt confident and KNEW I would be good at this thing called “spelling.” However, once I got that board in my hands it quickly fell apart. I still remember sitting with my first client. I dropped the board full of nerves, I am sure the board was too high, too far and moved more than a boat on the high seas. I don’t know what I expected when I sat with this person. I knew they were smart, I knew they could spell (at least that is what I was telling myself), and surely I was presuming competence. So why couldn’t this nonspeaker get to the letters? It rocked my world when they couldn’t. I questioned myself, I questioned the method, and sadly, I even questioned my client. I was a mess. I suddenly felt unsure about this path I had so clearly known to be where I was being led. William’s words, “SHERRI, I AM SO DAMN PROUD OF YOU!” rang in my head. The influence of a then 11-year-old had control over my desire to keep trying, but to say I felt discouraged was an understatement.
Thankfully, I was paired with an incredible mentor who challenged me, demanded more of me, inspired me to ask curious questions, and, above all else, scaffolded my learning so I could grasp the concepts and the skills to work with nonspeakers and their caregivers, and I did. I had only two spellers in my area that I could work with to complete my clinical training. That meant only two types of motor profiles to practice this important skill. I was feeling confident until I hit my internship, and yet again, I felt unsure, incompetent, anxious, and so much more. You see, I am a neurodiverse middle-aged woman. I have Sensory Processing Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I quickly realized that these letters behind my name made spelling with other spellers incredibly difficult. I couldn’t feel where my board was in space, I reversed letters, lost my place in the word, and I could not seem to regulate my emotions. The night before my last day as an intern, I went back to the hotel, and I cried A LOT. I called my husband and told him how frustrated I was, that maybe my neurodiversity and age were working against me, and perhaps I was not meant to do this after all. The next day, I woke up, got dressed, and said, ok, forget this; I am going to just go have fun… and I did. It clicked. All the knowledge, all the practice, fell into place. I had the attitude of “What do I have to lose?” and it served me. I decided to presume competence in myself. That day is now a blur, but I left confident I could spell with someone, I could regulate them, I could be a conduit for someone to share their thoughts and opinions. It all just clicked.
I am often asked what I think makes a good practitioner, and what a loaded question that is. There is not a simple answer to this question. It is an important question as we are typically the catalyst for whether a parent chooses to take a “gamble” on S2C or not. Again… no pressure, guys, but the fact is, if a parent has a bad first connection with a practitioner, this could make or break an individual’s opportunity to be freed from their silent prison. To answer this question, there isn’t quite a formula; however, from a professional and personal standpoint, the following are what I think are non-negotiables.
Be Informed
All good practice is informed by the experts… the spellers themselves. You can have all of the knowledge in the world and have degrees in areas that assist with understanding the mechanics and science of spelling, but if you don’t have a SPELLER who guides your practice…that is a problem. Several nonspeakers guide my practice. They live in different countries and different cities and from different backgrounds, religions, and cultures. Some have one caregiver, others two. Some are just new to fluency, and others are longtime pros. They have different motor profiles; some live in really tricky bodies that never stop moving, and others struggle to get moving. Some are nonspeakers, and others are unreliable speakers. As a Practitioner, you can have the most well-cured IG accounts and brand new, shiny, beautiful offices, but if you are not a practitioner who is guided by some trusted spellers, then what is the point? How can you meet the needs and desires of your spellers if you do not listen to them? Following famous spellers on social media is not enough. Sharing their poems, music, or art is great, but if you can’t ask them tough questions and get to know them, it is all for show.
Be Educated
This goes without saying, but…you don’t know what you don’t know. Practitioner training is just the tip of the iceberg. For those who are entering this profession as a caregiver or from a different field, what area of knowledge do you need to study further? What knowledge do you need to unlearn for those of us who have been working in this field? The fact is, our spellers and their families require us to be experts in this field. Are you curious about the sensory system? Want to understand the effects of exercise on regulation or sleep? Do you have a speller or family member who has Prosopagnosia (look it up)? There are many resources at our fingertips when we schedule the time to learn. Not only are we expanding our knowledge to help us serve our clients better, but we are exercising our brains, which will continue to lead to interesting conversations both in our professional and personal lives. I-ASC provides frequent webinars, blogs, and more to keep you informed on hot topics that are relevant to our spellers and our practice. Now, keep in mind that S2C Practitioners are not experts in all fields. You are trained in S2C, so stay within that scope. If you are not an OT, FOVD, or psychotherapist, do not pretend to be. Know when to refer your client out. We are not to be all things to all families. Ensure you have clear boundaries and stick to them; this is the ethically responsible thing to do. There are other professionals ready and waiting to help. Take the time to get to know the other professionals in your community and the spellers community to refer them to other trusted professionals as needed.
Be prepared
When we are prepared we can almost always be ready for anything. I am not talking about being so rigid that you only stick with your plan for a session and do not allow for flexibility as needed. What I am talking about is “when we fail to prepare we are [almost always] preparing to fail”, Does that sound familiar? As I mentioned, I am a practitioner with ADHD. If I do not schedule timers for important conversations, appointments, education, emails, invoicing, and goal setting, it just won’t happen for a deadline. When this happens, I get overwhelmed and stuck! The same goes for my sessions. By being overprepared for a session, I create an environment for my spellers and their families to feel assured and regulated. Although I can also take a “let’s just see what happens” attitude with some sessions, that does not mean I do not prepare. I have a lesson, a backup lesson, and I plan out a few different purposeful motor activities. For each one, I have multiple modifications, so I am prepared for what the speller’s body might do. I have numerous body engagers, sensory tools, equipment, and ideas. You can still be flexible and prepared. You can still think outside the box and still be prepared. When we come rushed to a conversation or a session, we are setting the tone, and it is not a good one. We want our families to feel assured, heard, and valued. We want the speller to be our focus for optimal regulation. Planning helps to co-create an environment that is conducive to shared learning and sets the stage for success for all involved. Speller Gregory Tino says, “HAVING A PERSON WHO CAN BE FLEXIBLE AND CHANGE THE PLAN PER WHAT WE NEED…HAVING A PERSON WHO CAN BE CREATIVE WITH IDEAS ABOUT ACTIVITIES THAT WILL ENCOURAGE OPEN-ENDED COMMUNICATION”. By having many tools in your toolbox, you can easily adapt to what your speller needs in the moment and support them in their loftiest goals.
Be regulated
I know I know…you have heard us tell you a million times if you are not regulated, neither will your speller be. We say this often because nothing is more important in a session than regulation. While working with your speller you are their Communication AND Regulation Partner (it’s almost as if it was named that for a reason). All too often, we are so focused on our spellers’ regulation that we lose sight of our own. Your regulation matters. One day I was working with someone who has a very tricky body. He drives over an hour to see me. When we first began to work together, the first 20 minutes of our session was me spending time working on his regulation. We would bounce, and jump, and crash and swing. We would lift weights and practice purposeful motor movements. Once he was regulated, we would get his little body to spell. Well, one day, he came in, and to our surprise, he was ready to spell in the first 5 minutes. It was beautiful, his eyes were on the letters, he was slowing his arm to poke, his body was firmly planted and he was getting to the letters. Then, right before my eyes, within the next 5 minutes, I watched it all unravel. He began to run away from me and the board. He pulled me over to my giant crash pad, pushed me down, and then started jumping on me. Over and over, as I got up, he pushed me back down, then sat on my hip and started repeatedly bouncing. All the while I am giving his mom all my best knowledge of why he may now be dysregulated. Then it dawned on me… he was regulating me. I looked at him and said “Oh my gosh! You are regulating me aren’t you buddy?” he giggled and gave me his coy smile and then bounced more. So at that moment, I let him. I melted into the crash pad and allowed the proprioceptive input my system so desperately needed. You see, 10 minutes before his appointment, as I was preparing for his session, my 13-year-old decided to take a flying leap onto a mat and instead landed on my wall, causing a giant 13-year-old imprint through my drywall. I was OFF. Now, this is an example of something big happening in my day that set me off, but what about the insecurities, anxiety and stress we all hold within our body? When you feel nervous with a new client, they feel that. When you feel like you don’t have the knowledge to coach a parent, they feel that too. When you are working with a tricky body you don’t always know what it might do. They feel that. If you have imposter syndrome, going through a divorce, have had issues with a friend, got in a car accident, have a gigantic to-do list, or are grieving the loss of a loved one, they feel it all. So how can we prepare? Take care of yourself. Do you have a therapist? Book the appointment. Do you need to take 15 minutes out of your day to meditate? Schedule it. Do you need to put on calming music before a client comes? Ask Alexa. Do you need to get up early in the day to get the to-do list out of the way? Set the Alarm. Do you need to get healthy? Put on your running shoes. Do you have imposter syndrome? Find a mentor to mirror your worth. Do you feel unprepared? Take the course. Do the thing that will regulate you so that you can be the best regulation partner for your speller. Linda Tino, mom to Gregory writes, “The CRP needs to be a calming influence. The spellers most definitely can pick up on internal anxiety.” and Gregory agrees that a good practitioner is “patient and calm and doesn’t get flustered easily”.
Be Curious
So many times we look at life through the lens of what we know and who we know, we are all shaped by our environment. We draw on personal experiences or education we have had. When a client can not get to the intended letter we run down our list of best practices and methodology. Often that may or may not be the issue. Sometimes we just need to get curious. We need to look at the issue under a different lens. We need to develop a practice of reflection. When you take the time to get curious about a speller or their family, the answer or solution becomes clear. Now I am not talking about running down a magical list of diagnostic questions. I am talking about getting to know your speller and their environment. They are not your puzzle to figure out. They are your person to get to know. As their outsides do not often match their insides, stay curious about what their body is doing and what they might need to get it operating more fluidly and beneficially. If your family has a certain set of values, why is that? There is always a story. Being curious puts us in a position of being a learner, it helps to take us out of our ego and guards against being judgemental. Being curious is fun, Linda tells us “I love it when the CRP makes time for check-in questions. As a parent you live for those moments, not just their comments from a selected lesson. I loved when our CRP would sometimes do creative writing with Gregory.” When your speller is fluent, it is a beautiful time to get curious and watch them demonstrate exactly who they are.
And lastly... Be Relational
We were created to be in relationship with one another. When we can just be ourselves we allow others to show themselves as well. Are you funny? Be that. Are you creative? Show that. Are you gifted in some way? Share that. Be authentically YOU. Andrew Baker, one young man who guides my S2C practice shared this, “RIGHT OFF THE TOP, I LOVE WHEN A PRACTITIONER JOKES WITH ME OR TALKS TO ME IN A WAY THAT ACKNOWLEDGES I AM A REAL PERSON WITH A THINKING BRAIN WHO MIGHT EVEN HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR. PLUS IT BREAKS ANY TENSION I MIGHT FEEL ABOUT THE SESSION. SOMEONE ANTICIPATING ME GOING INTO DYSREGULATION – SEEING MY BODY AND PICKING UP ON MT CUES. IN A WAY, THEY ARE LIKE THE REGULAR VERSION OF MY AUTISTIC BODY MEANING THEY GET ME AND MY CHALLENGES BUT THEY LEAVE THE AUTHENTIC VOICE TO ME.” Talk about a mic drop! He couldn’t have said it any better. You can’t be a good practitioner when you have not built a relationship first with your speller and their family. We need to leave our expectations at the door and just enjoy being in relationship with our speller, no matter where they are in their S2C journey. When we are in tune with who they are, we can respond to meet their needs. When we presume competence and show respect in all aspects of their life, we will then model that to the caregivers and they in turn model that same behaviour with their children. Your speller doesn’t have to communicate openly to begin building that relationship with you. Tell them you can’t wait to hear what they think of their mom’s lasagna. Make light of yourself when you mess up. Tell them you can not wait to learn from them why their body moves in a certain way. Be honest with them. Listen, we all have needs; we all require support. Life is better in relationship, co-creation is better in relationship, and goals met are better done in relationship. Build relationships within this community and with other practitioners. Many of you know my motto: “I am not an Island”. I surround myself with other practitioners, professionals, spellers, allies, and more. I have a support system inside my practice and outside my practice.
And, of course, there is more… Be Professional, Be Coachable. Be Honest. Be Kind. Be Patient. Be Creative. Be Fun. The list goes on. Yet I find that nothing is more important than this: Be intentional in your relationships. Give more than you take.
About the Author
Sherri Taylor is a Certified Spelling to Communicate Practitioner and Registered Early Childhood Educator living in Windsor, Ontario. As a Special Services Worker for 30 years, Sherri has contributed significantly to various sectors in the disability community, including education, supportive housing, and occupational therapy.
Sherri was introduced to Spelling to Communicate when she was handpicked by the Premier of Ontario to contribute to the creation of funding, supports, and services for autistics and their families. During this period, Sherri engaged with families from across Toronto, an experience that led her to a paradigm shift in her practice after being introduced to Spelling to Communicate by a young man named William. This encounter ignited a passion for empowering nonspeakers and became the catalyst for the establishment of her private practice, Sherri Taylor Collaborative.
Sherri leverages her expertise in purposeful motor movements, sensory strategies, and coaching to support spellers. Her commitment extends to consulting with parents and practitioners, emphasizing a collaborative approach to foster autonomy in individuals with diverse communication needs. As a faculty member of I-ASC, Sherri mentors and evaluates cohorts, contributing to the advancement of best practices in Spelling to Communicate.
With a deep understanding of the importance of amplifying the voices of the nonspeaking community, Sherri has made it her mission to bring their perspectives to the forefront ensuring that their voices are heard, valued, and respected.
2 Responses
Thank you Sherri! So much good stuff in this post! I am currently applying to take the S2C practitioner training. I deeply feel the calling to participate in this endeavor to unlock those who cannot speak and give them an avenue with which to truly connect with those around them. My whole paradigm has shifted from how we were “taught” to look at this beautiful population and I am filled with excitement about being a partner in this.
I especially love what you wrote about being relational. I am sure many of these folks have been through the system in its current from and have been met with people who are all about “accomplishing the tasks” but know nothing about the person sitting there performing (or not performing) them. Being authentic and real and having a genuine interest in getting to KNOW them from the INSIDE is to me, just as much if not more of the goal as teaching them to spell! Rewarding for all parties on all levels with this approach. Thank you!
Thank you Sherri. What a wonderful blog. I’m a CRP with my granddaughter – and I’m so encouraged by your article. Challenged too. Thank you.