Cass’s Mission
Cass is an autistic mother of two autistic girls, and an advocate for inclusion. Her younger daughter, H, has used Proloquo2go as her robust AAC system since age two. Cass’s push for inclusion happens on many fronts. It shows up in therapy sessions, IEP meetings, and volunteering in the classroom. But it also shows up as a deep, ongoing effort to make sure her daughter has access to the same words her classmates do.
And that access is not something that happens automatically.
“In Kindergarten, I pushed hard for academic inclusion, starting with ELA (English Language Arts)” Cass explains. “That’s when I discovered a huge gap that almost no one talks about: curriculum vocabulary access.”
The Hidden Language Gap
Most AAC systems, including robust ones, come with a built-in vocabulary set. But as Cass quickly realized, less than 20% of her daughter’s Kindergarten English Language Arts (ELA) vocabulary was already in Proloquo2Go. Even when the words were there, most of them were
- buried in “storage,”
- hidden behind multiple programming stems, and
- functionally inaccessible for an emergent communicator’s use.
Meanwhile, her daughter’s general education classmates were learning and using new vocabulary words every week. Words like: predict, character, main idea, illustration, chapter, theme. These weren’t “fringe” words. They were the heart of the ELA curriculum. The learning itself was built on the understanding and use of these words!
Without access to those same words, AAC users like H are not included in that learning. And the gap only widens.
“When kids can’t access the academic vocabulary their peers are using, they get labeled as ‘not ready’ or ‘not capable,’” Cass says. “But it’s not about ability or capability. It’s literally about access.”
The Programming Marathon
To close that gap, Cass became both programmer and educator. Every week, her daughter’s teacher sends home a newsletter with the new target vocabulary for ELA, science, and math. Cass then checks whether those words already exist on H’s AAC device. If not, she adds them one by one.
Each “folder redo” can take upwards of 150 hours since there’s no official blueprint for this kind of work. She’s
- printed out Proloquo2Go grids,
- made hand-written notes about button movements, and
- saved backup versions in case she needs to undo something.
Cass edits everything on the computer version of Proloquo2Go. She then backs up and updates the device once a week. She organizes words primarily by their grammatical location (for example, adding new verbs to subfolders within the existing verb page) and alphabetizes for easy tracking. But, she still has to make multiple decisions about how to arrange words by part of speech, meaning, and topic.
About 70% of the words come with matching symbols when she searches for them. For the rest, she finds or creates her own images.
“It’s detailed, time-consuming work,” Cass says. “But it matters. Because this is how she gets to say the same words as everyone else in class.”
Before each Monday, Cass reviews the new additions with H, showing her where each word lives on the device. Together, they explore related pages. Cass listens closely to how H interacts with the new content. Sometimes, H gravitates toward specific folders or symbols. Other times, she’s simply more interested in that area of her device, going deeper into language use, function, and meaning.
“It’s About Access”
H is also working with a private SLP this year. The focus is on DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). She’s highly motivated to talk, though intelligibility remains difficult. Cass collaborates with both her daughter’s private and school SLPs, sharing phonics and ELA vocabulary to integrate into speech sessions.
“To me, this isn’t about how many words she can find,” Cass says. “It’s about her being able to say the words along with the other kids during class and be active in her own learning.”
As her intelligibility improves, H uses her AAC more strategically. Sometimes she turns off the voice output because “it no my sound.” But it is still a useful tool for language and for pronouncing novel and complex academic words, which can be harder to articulate. Cass has even tried exploring personalized voice options. “We’re all trying to support her in using her AAC even when she’s frustrated,” she says. “We want her to know it’s her voice, her power.”
Vocabulary Access Isn’t Optional
Cass has a clear message for educators, speech therapists, and AAC developers alike:
Stop treating academic vocabulary as optional.
She finds that many professionals lean heavily on “descriptive teaching” models when a specific word isn’t on their AAC system.
However, descriptive teaching requires young children to creatively find alternate ways to express a specific concept instead of simply being given the word itself. It’s like a constant game of charades! Keep in mind, many AAC users already have significant language or learning differences.
“That’s cruel,” Cass says bluntly. “Expecting a five-year-old with a language delay to come up with synonyms for chapter or main idea is absurd. It shows a lack of understanding of how general education classrooms function.”
What Cass Wishes Educators and Developers Knew
Cass is a huge proponent of AAC. But she is frustrated with the underlying assumption that children like hers don’t need the vocabulary that will help them be included in mainstream classes. It implies kids like hers don’t belong in general education.
“Kindergarten is when kids have the most potential,” she explains. “If they’re in Gen Ed but don’t have access to the Gen Ed language, you’re leaving them no choice but segregation later. The child will be blamed for a gap adults created.”
She believes AAC developers could play a pivotal role by preloading grade-level ELA and academic vocabulary sets into their systems. “AssistiveWare already knows the value of this vocabulary. They include it in Proloquo for literacy learners,” Cass says. “Why not Proloquo2Go too? They could easily source common academic vocabulary lists by grade level. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to exist.”
Planting the Seed for Change
Cass’s advocacy now extends beyond her own home. She encourages parents, educators, and IEP teams to include “parent contact for classroom vocabulary updates” as a formal accommodation. This ensures AAC users receive weekly access to key curriculum words. She hopes more families (or teachers and SLPs!) will start programming these words in advance so children aren’t left months and months behind.
“Half a year is a lot of lost learning time,” Cass says. “AAC users shouldn’t be disadvantaged by preventable language deprivation.”
Her vision is for a future where every AAC system includes the academic vocabulary needed for full classroom participation. Where teachers model those words naturally. Where inclusion isn’t symbolic. It’s linguistic!
“This isn’t just about my daughter,” Cass says. “It’s about making sure no child is left without words. Language access is inclusion.”
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