Everyone communicates in some way.

Is it possible to recognize that communication?

What makes the act of communicating intrinsically motivating and rewarding for those with severe motor and/or sensory differences. When is a symbol system appropriate to an individual's abilities? How are truly functional alternate and augmentative communication systems developed?

Only when communication is recognized and consistently reinforced will those with severe differences find the effort to communicate worthwhile.

Every Move Counts represents the completion of a 33-month Innovative Research Grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health and funded through the National Institutes for the Neurologically and Communicatively Disordered.

Ninety-one children and 41 speech/language pathologists, teachers and occupational therapists from seven different sites participated in the implementation and validation of the Every Move Counts approach.