Our Story

When our co-founder Mitchell Robins was 10 years old, he started therapy to learn how to use a letterboard.  It was clear quite quickly that Mitchell had a lot to say, and within a few months, he was able to spell to his family that he loved them for the first time. 

As time went on, Mitchell began sharing complex thoughts and needs unavailable using his previous communication methods, which only allowed expression of basic wants and needs. The family dynamic changed dramatically as he was consulted on his actual dreams and desires and others began treating him as a capable human being.

Over the years, Mitchell’s spelling skills progressed, which allowed him to earn a diploma from his local high school and begin a blog in 2019 that was featured on the front page of The Chicago Tribune and on CBS News-Chicago.  He has also presented at various events on how he uses a letterboard. Mitchell’s story inspired others to try spelling-based communication, which forever changed their lives and the lives of their families.  These many successes led him to declare that he wants his life work to be advocating for others with verbal apraxia.  He currently is pursuing a degree in Community Advocacy and Social Policy from Arizona State University to formalize this life goal.

Mitchell began working with Taylor Janca in the fall of 2018 while she was finishing graduate school for speech-language pathology and he was in high school. Taylor always knew she wanted to work with autistic clients who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods. Mitchell provided her first direct exposure to using a letterboard—a form of AAC. Taylor adjusted her focus in graduate school and beyond to working with letterboard users after witnessing Mitchell’s ability to communicate the full extent of his thoughts to her, his family and the world at large through his blog.

Mitchell asked Taylor to help build a community of letterboard users because there are not enough people who communicate like him in Chicagoland. Taylor promised him that she would help him build the community he was seeking; the formation of Amplifying Potential Therapy has largely been a result of that promise. Mitchell, his family, and Taylor decided to form a practice with a primary focus of bringing letterboard to those without a reliable and robust communication method. As part of this mission, the co-founders aim to support families so that they can, in turn, support their spellers, both new and experienced.  Additionally, we endeavor to demonstrate to the Chicagoland area that non-speakers who spell have much to contribute, which we hope will improve opportunities beyond our practice for Chicago-area youth and adults with apraxia.