Phonics for Nonspeakers: Reimagining Phonics for All Communicators

As a young girl, I had a passion for teaching. My favorite game was "playing school," and my playroom reflected this obsession—makeshift desks lined in perfect rows, facing a wall transformed into a chalkboard. Family members, friends, and even my dolls became my students as I stood before them, teaching with all the authority a child could muster.

This wasn't just childhood play. It was the beginning of a journey that would reshape how I understood communication itself.

Following the Traditional Path

That early passion naturally led me to pursue a bachelor's degree in Special Education and a master's in School Improvement Leadership. For eight years, I taught at Mays Chapel Elementary School in the Baltimore County Public School system as a special education inclusion teacher.

Working with students from pre-K through 5th grade, each with their own unique disabilities, I discovered something powerful: phonics intervention was where I saw the most dramatic transformations. Watching students learn to read and then apply those skills to spelling became my favorite part of teaching. I immersed myself in every professional development opportunity I could find—Fundations, Orton Gillingham, Wilson Reading Systems, LETRS, and Heggerty. Each method added new tools to my teaching toolkit.

The Question That Changed Everything

Fast forward to present day. Now working for Reach Every Voice as an Educational Specialist and Communication Teacher, I found myself facing a recurring question that challenged everything I thought I knew about teaching literacy:

"How old does my child need to be to start a text-based multimodal approach to communication?"

My answer has become unwavering: We must presume competence in every learner, no matter their age.

This question haunted me because I knew the research—children are typically ready to learn phonics between ages 3 and 4. Yet here were families with young nonspeaking children being told to wait, to hold back, to lower expectations. Why should communication method determine when a child gets access to literacy?

Bridging Two Worlds

The solution seemed obvious once I asked the right question: Why not adapt the phonics methods I'd mastered for nonspeaking learners?

Working with little learners, I realized the best place to start remained the same—letters and sounds. But the approach needed transformation. Instead of verbal responses, we could use choice-based systems, stencil boards, letter boards, or keyboards. The phonics knowledge I'd gathered over years of teaching could be reimagined for learners who communicated differently.

Creating the Phonics for Nonspeakers Workshop

In 2023, this realization crystallized into action. I created a virtual 6-part workshop series titled "Teaching Phonics for Nonspeakers."

My goal was clear: equip families, teachers, and communication partners with practical strategies and tools for teaching phonics to nonspeaking individuals, empowering them to unlock the world of literacy.

The workshop doesn't just present theory—it's hands-on, offering a structured literacy approach combined with multimodal strategies focused on phonics. Through interactive activities and real-world examples, participants leave with:

• Actionable plans they can implement immediately

• Adaptable resources for different learners

• The confidence to help every learner find their voice

  
  

The Classroom That Never Ended

Looking back, I see how that childhood playroom with its painted chalkboard wall was preparing me for this moment. The rows of desks have been replaced by virtual workshop spaces. The dolls and reluctant family members have given way to eager parents and educators seeking new ways to reach their nonspeaking learners.

But the core remains the same: the belief that every student—every person—has the capacity to learn, to communicate, to share their unique perspective with the world. The only difference is that now I understand communication doesn't require speech. It requires opportunity, the right tools, and someone who believes in presuming competence.

When participants ask me why I'm so passionate about teaching phonics to nonspeaking learners, I think back to that little girl arranging desks in her playroom. She knew something fundamental: everyone deserves to be taught, to be reached, to be given the tools to express themselves.

Today, through these workshops, I'm still that teacher. Only now, instead of teaching dolls their ABCs, I'm showing the world that literacy belongs to everyone—one letter, one learner, one breakthrough at a time.

Ready to discover how text-based multimodal communication can unlock literacy for your learner? Join us in reshaping what's possible.

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Miranda Cobo is an Educational Specialist at Reach Every Voice. She is the leader of our weekday Co-Op program and also provides one-on-one communication instruction for students in our Gaithersburg and Annapolis locations. You can book online consultations with Miranda or any of our REV staff here.