Mission Statement
To boldly champion the competence of non-speakers as thinking individuals; to uphold their sacred dignity; to expand access to effective communication through education in spelled communication methods, neurodevelopmental movement, primitive reflex integration, and emerging technologies grounded in principles of brain plasticity; and to advance a paradigm shift in public understanding toward recognition, respect, and meaningful inclusion of non-speakers in society.
The Map
Connecting Nonspeakers With Believing Professionals
Explore Support by State
Get on the Map
Part of our mission at Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club is to advance a paradigm shift in how the world sees nonspeakers. The Nonspeaker Hub is how we’re doing that — one provider at a time.
If you are a family member or caregiver of a nonspeaker, you know how hard it can be to find doctors, therapists, and practitioners who truly see your loved one — who speak to them directly, who treat them as the intelligent, aware individual they are. The Nonspeaker Hub is a directory built specifically to help you find those people.
If you are a provider — whether you are a letterboard coach, an occupational therapist, a chiropractor, a developmental optometrist, a gut health specialist, an equine therapist, a mental health provider, or any other practitioner serving this community — this is your invitation to be found. The criterion for being listed is simple: you presume competence. You believe that the nonspeakers in your care are thinking individuals who deserve full dignity, full explanation, and full inclusion in their own care.
To be listed in the directory, simply fill out the submission form below. You’ll provide a photo — of yourself and/or your facility — a brief four to five sentence description of what you do, and an email address where families can reach you. Include a logo file if you want your branding on your page.
Class Calendar
Times on Central Standard Time, updated weekly
Coming Soon
Board of Directors
Melissa Martz
Director — Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club
Melissa Martz has spent her career asking one question: why do some of the most clearly intelligent children struggle so profoundly to read, write, or communicate — and what is getting in the way?
A graduate of Mississippi College with a degree in Elementary Education, she developed expertise in literacy intervention before building an online teaching practice starting in 2014 — six years before the rest of the world was forced to catch up. She became a licensed Fast ForWord provider, drawn to its grounding in neuroplasticity, and began thinking about children’s learning in a new way — one that took seriously the brain’s capacity to grow and rewire.
That pursuit led her to primitive reflex integration. She completed intensive coursework in the field, including extensive MNRI training in postural and dynamic reflex integration — work she continues to revisit and build on. It was during free webinars leading up to that training that she first discovered nonspeakers communicating through letterboards. In that moment came the realization that she had received her calling; she turned around to take a look at the life she had led up until that point, only to see that everything she had learned and everything she had done had prepared her all along for exactly this.
There was no turning back.
As a founding director, Melissa serves as the primary instructor on Sweetgum’s online platform, offering free lessons in spelling-based letterboard communication, neurodevelopmental exercises, and primitive reflex integration, and hosts community discussions that advance the movement to recognize nonspeakers as the thinking individuals they are.
Dr. Linda Ann Westman, DC, MA
Vice President — Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club
Dr. Linda Ann Westman is a doctor of chiropractic, wisdom keeper, author, and speaker with over 35 years of experience in integrative healing. Her clinical work weaves together chiropractic care, applied kinesiology, Cymatherapy, sound healing, Qi Gong, Bach Flower remedies, hypnotherapy, and energy and generational healing — with a specialty in clearing limiting beliefs formed in utero and the first seven years of life.
It is her deep understanding that communication, healing, and selfhood exist far beneath the threshold of spoken words that draws Dr. Westman to the mission of Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club. Every person carries an inner world worthy of expression — and providing non-speakers with the tools and modalities to communicate is, to her, an act of profound recognition.
Her life’s work is rooted in the truth that we are not separate from the Great All — we are woven into it, expressions of it. When a person truly feels that belonging, the old belief “I don’t deserve this” loses its ground, and something more natural takes its place: the lived experience of creating life through joy.
Dr. Westman is the author of Come Home to Yourself and is based in Kalispell, Montana.
Michael McFadden
Secretary/Treasurer—Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club
Michael McFadden brings to the Sweet Gum Neurodevelopment Club a lifelong commitment to the dignity and inner life of every person. As a chaplain at Saint Catharine’s Village, he walks alongside individuals at profound thresholds of human experience, offering presence and care rooted in the conviction that every person — regardless of how they communicate or move through the world — carries irreducible worth.
A member of the Secular Carmelites of Jackson, Mississippi, Michael’s spirituality is shaped by a tradition that prizes contemplative listening and the recognition of the sacred in the hidden and the overlooked — values that resonate deeply with the Club’s mission to champion non-speakers as thinking individuals deserving of full recognition and inclusion.
Michael’s academic background includes teaching Spanish at Mississippi State University, reflecting a long-standing appreciation for the power of language, access, and being truly understood.
Juli Valencia
Board Member — Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club
He is honored to serve on the board and to support the work of expanding communication access and transforming public understanding of neurodivergent individuals.
Juli Valencia brings a heart for people to the Sweetgum Neurodevelopment Club board. She earned her undergraduate degree in adolescent psychology and will begin her Master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy at Mississippi Christian University this fall. Her hands-on experience as assistant to an executive director of another nonprofit has given her a practical understanding of organizational leadership and mission-driven work.
Juli’s background in human development and family systems aligns naturally with Sweetgum’s commitment to expanding communication access and championing the dignity of nonspeaking individuals — work that touches not just the individual, but the entire family unit. She brings both academic grounding and a collaborative spirit to the team.
Love Makes it All Bearable
As on ongoing fundraiser, we are selling adorable teddy bear plaques that say, “Love Makes it All Bearable”. Click here to purchase.
