The Gift of Reconnecting: What Nonspeaking Students Teach Us About Communication and Inclusion
- Anne Butler
- Oct 21
- 3 min read
A Classroom Memory that Changed Everything
About thirty years ago, as a brand-new teacher, I stood in front of my first 6th-grade class, full of nerves, excitement, and hope. Among my students was a quiet boy named Jeremy, who had autism. Back then, our understanding of autism was “limited” (to put it kindly) and, to be blunt, “just plain wrong.”
Like so many teachers, I was doing my best—using the tools and strategies we had for supporting neurodivergent students. I remember feeling a deep desire to reach Jeremy and all of my students, but also a lingering uncertainty: Was I doing enough? Did my students feel seen? How could I do more to provide an inclusive and rigorous education for all of these 6th graders?
A New Way of Seeing Communication
Fast forward to today, when—luckily—communication instruction looks completely different, at least at Reach Every Voice.
Thanks to our nonspeaking students, we now understand apraxia, the brain-body disconnect, and perhaps most importantly, we presume complete competence in all of our students. We no longer assume that silence means a lack of understanding, that all speech is reliable, or that the way the body appears to move is necessarily meaningful or purposeful.
Instead, we look for alternative—and intentional—ways to connect: through AAC devices and letterboards, and with more patience, understanding, and compassionate listening.
It’s humbling to think how much Jeremy had inside him back then that we, his teachers, certainly missed. And it’s emotional to consider how the world limited him before it learned how to listen.
A Full Circle Moment with a Nonspeaking Student
So, when I took a look at our waitlist last summer and saw Jeremy’s name, my heart skipped a beat. Jeremy—now nearly 40 years old—wanted to build skills with AAC. At REV!
He had remembered me after all these years. The compassion and understanding that he now offers me, as his teacher, is something from which we could all learn. I can hardly believe it’s the same boy from my classroom all those years ago.
The Power of Being Understood
Jeremy is now learning to communicate using letterboards. His presence, his words and recognition of our history, his calm strength—they’re overwhelming in the most beautiful way.
I realize now the depth of his frustrations as a child, being misunderstood, and how much has changed as the world begins to truly see autistic people for who they are—not broken, not deficient, but different and fully capable.
And here he is: Jeremy, the octopus-loving 12-year-old, now a full-fledged, bright, compassionate, marine-life-loving adult.
Lessons from Jeremy: Listening, Believing, Growing
To me, this was more than a reunion between teacher and student—it was a reminder of the power of connection and the resilience of the human spirit.
It reminded me why I became a teacher in the first place. Jeremy’s journey shows what is possible when we listen better, presume competence, and keep learning ourselves.
I think of all the students like him who were once misunderstood, and how much we owe them—not just better education, but deeper respect and belief in their potential from the very beginning.
Reconnecting with Jeremy has been a gift I never expected, but one that has changed me again as a teacher and a person. It’s a full-circle moment—one that shows how far we’ve come, how far we still have to go, and how powerful it is when someone finally gets the chance to be heard.
Anne Butler is a Communication Teacher at Reach Every Voice where she provides one-on-one communication instruction for students in our Gaithersburg and Severna Park locations.
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