You already sense it.
We're going to teach you to read it.
Your child is communicating. Every day. In dozens of ways. I've spent a career learning the communication signals. The Silence to Signals™ Communication Framework* is what I built for you to read it.
Dr. Catherine C. Acotto, PhD, CCC-SLP, 26 years and 50,000+ clinical hours with non-speaking autistic children.
* The Silence to Signals™ Communication Framework is a structured communication interpretation system for parents of non-speaking and minimally speaking autistic children, built around the six-stage SIGNAL Path.
The bowl on the floor wasn't the problem.
Your child threw the bowl this morning. Not because they were angry at you. Because they were trying to tell you something, and the bowl was the only signal they had available in that moment. That's not a behavior problem. That's a communication gap. And it's one you can learn to close.
The meltdown that "came from nowhere"
It didn't. It was the last signal in a sequence you weren't taught to read.
The feeling you can't shake
That your child is reaching for you in a language you were never handed the dictionary for.
The professionals who said your child doesn’t communicate
They were wrong. Your child has never stopped communicating. Someone has to learn to see it.
The Silence to Signals Communication Framework
Six stages. 24 lessons. A sequential path from Signal Chaos™* to Signal Literacy™**: the ability to read and respond to your child's full signal system.
* Signal Chaos™ is the experience of a caregiver who has not yet developed Signal Literacy™ — characterized by confusion, reactivity, exhaustion, and the feeling that their child's communication is random or intentionally defiant.
** Signal Literacy™ is a caregiver's developed ability to accurately identify, interpret, and respond to a child's full signal system — including pre-symbolic, non-verbal, and behavioral signals — with consistency and confidence.
See the Child
Observe and recognize the signals your child is already sending.
Interpret the Behavior
Understand what those signals mean using the Eight Signal Functions™*.
* The Eight Signal Functions™ are the specific purposes a child's signals serve: Request, Protest, Comment, Greet, Seek, Share, Regulate and Refuse.
Get in Sync
Build the relational posture and co-regulatory foundation.
Normalize Symbols
Introduce and support AAC and communication tools without fear.
Anticipate Breakdowns
Read the escalation sequence before the meltdown. Design for prevention.
Layer Communication
Expand, generalize, and sustain the system across every context.
Dr. Catherine C. Acotto, PhD, CCC-SLP
Twenty-six years. Over 50,000 clinical hours. A master's in Communication Sciences and Disorders with an emphasis in Autism, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University.
Her 2014 ASU dissertation followed one teenage girl with autism whose aggression and self-injury filled two hours of a five-hour school day. Teaching her to ask had already been tried, and it changed very little, because it fell apart the moment the answer was no. What changed things was what Dr. Acotto did in that moment. That cut the duration of those episodes by 64% in a big box store, 74% in a grocery store, and 81% in her classroom, sustained at six-month follow-up. One girl, one study, published under her own name: proof of concept for what changes when communication access increases.
She still carries a full caseload at a California county special education program. She is not teaching from memory. She is teaching from last Tuesday.
What's Inside Silence to Signals™
A single-tier enrollment. Everything Dr. Acotto has built in 26 years, structured into a path you can actually walk.
The Full Course
6 modules, 24 lessons. Signal Classification Table*, Regulation Decision Algorithm**, Synchrony Protocol Loop***, SIGNAL Repair Protocol™****, and more.
* The Signal Classification Table sorts every signal a child produces into one of three types: communicative, regulatory or mixed. Communicative signals are intentional, directed toward a person or an outcome. The type tells the parent what kind of response is needed.
** The Regulation Decision Algorithm is the decision sequence that gives the specific response for each nervous system state, in the order it should be applied. It starts with one question before every interaction: what state is my child's nervous system in right now? The states are regulated, hyper-aroused, hypo-aroused and re-engaging.
*** The Synchrony Protocol Loop is the Get in Sync sequence a parent repeats with their child: Observe their rhythm, Join (mirror their pace), Narrate, Expand (add a symbol), then hold a Signal Pause™ and wait.
**** The SIGNAL Repair Protocol™ is the clinical procedure for any breakdown: five sequential steps grounded in Functional Communication Training research. Step 1, stop the demand. Step 2, regulate. Step 3, interpret the signal. Step 4, model the replacement. Step 5, re-engage.
Signal Community™
The ongoing peer ecosystem of parents walking this path with you. Included in enrollment, with no separate membership.
Signal Translator™ AI
Unlimited access to the AI built on Dr. Acotto's knowledge base. Available exclusively to course members.
Monthly Live Q&A
Direct access to Dr. Acotto each month. Your specific situation. Her read on it. In real time.
"I've been thinking about a moment from a session years ago."
A mom looked at me and said, "I feel like he's screaming at me in a language I've never heard."
She wasn't wrong. She just needed a translator.
Every child I've ever worked with was communicating. Every single one. For 26 years, my job has been to help the adults in that child's life learn to see it. That's what a Signal Translator™* does.
Silence to Signals™ is how I hand that ability to you.
* Signal Translator™ is a trained professional who helps caregivers decode and respond to a child's full communication system — including pre-symbolic, non-verbal, behavioral, and emerging signals.
Your child is already communicating.
Learn to read it. Before words. In place of words. Alongside words. However it arrives.
The course officially launches November 1, and you can enroll today. It is taught by Dr. Catherine C. Acotto, PhD, CCC-SLP, who has spent 26 years and more than 50,000 clinical hours with non-speaking and minimally speaking autistic children.
Not ready yet? Take the 4-minute Signal Fluency Assessment to join the waitlist and hear first.
- âś“ Full course: 6 modules, 24 lessons
- ✓ Signal Community™ membership
- ✓ Unlimited Signal Translator™ AI
- âś“ Monthly Live Q&A with Dr. Acotto
Not ready yet? Start with The Transition Signal Guide. It shows you what to watch for in the ten minutes before a meltdown.
