Voices Rising: Voice

Voices Rising provides assistance with communication devices and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to ensure that every youth can be heard and understood. Voices Rising enables children to express their wants, needs, and preferences while ensuring caregivers know how to listen and respond. Functional communication training helps children learn to express their needs and reduce communication breakdowns. The program supplies Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) materials, provides assistance with obtaining AAC devices, and operates an AAC device loaning library to bridge gaps when higher‑cost speech‑generating devices are delayed or denied (an issue that disproportionately affects this population). Because AAC systems fail most often when communication partners are untrained, our program also provides caregiver training on how to model, prompt, and respond. The Belonging Tree Foundation believes that spoken words, pictures, signs, and devices are all communication, and every child deserves access to the method that allows their voice to be heard.