Empowering Families Through Play: Caley Nunnally’s Approach to Early Communication and AAC
This November, we’re thrilled to celebrate Caley Nunnally, M.Ed., CCC-SLP—speech-language pathologist, author, and founder of Learn with Chatterboxes. Caley blends her professional expertise and personal experience as a mom to empower parents and caregivers in the earliest stages of communication development. Through her book You and Me and her engaging educational resources, Caley helps families turn everyday routines into powerful opportunities for connection, play, and language growth. Her work highlights the importance of supporting all forms of communication—spoken, gestural, and AAC—while creating inclusive, accessible environments where every child’s voice is valued. This month, Caley shares her insights on early intervention, functional language development, and empowering families to build strong communication foundations from the very start.
What do you believe is the strongest foundation for helping young children build early language and communication skills?
Connection! When children feel safe, seen, and engaged with those around them, communication naturally follows. Responsive interactions where we follow their lead, model language around their interests, and celebrate every attempt helps language to grow!
When working with toddlers and preschoolers, what are some of your favorite ways to support functional communication during everyday routines?
Snack time, getting dressed, bath time and playtime are easy and natural times to build in language strategies. I like to teach parents how to model short, functional phrases like “help me,” “want more,” or “all done,” and pair them with gestures or visuals. Repetition is key! I also use lots of pauses to give children time and space to communicate in their own way. The goal is to make communication useful and rewarding in the moments that matter most to them and that occur frequently!!
What are your go-to strategies for keeping communication fun, motivating, and engaging for young children—especially when using visuals or AAC supports?
Being sure that I’m really delivering play-based, child-led therapy! Also, making sure that my patients are well regulated. I spend a lot of time doing sessions in the sensory gym and if not, then on the floor meeting them where they’re at. I embed communication within play so that it feels natural and exciting. I use silly voices, songs, and pretend scenarios, and I always model AAC in the context of what the child loves—like pressing “go” before sending a car down the ramp or “yay!” after knocking down a tower. When visuals and AAC are tied to joy, children see them as tools for connection, not “work.”
How do you help families recognize that all forms of communication—gestures, sounds, and AAC—are meaningful and worth celebrating?
I really try to emphasize that verbal speech is NOT superior to any other form of communication and point out all the little ways their child is already communicating. From there, I try to teach them how to support their child in their communication journey to make it more functional in a way that feels best to their child (most of the time supporting them with sign language or AAC too!) Every gesture, look, sound, or button press is a child’s way of reaching out and that’s something to celebrate! I often say helping families see progress in all its forms transforms the way they respond to their child.
What inspired you to become a speech-language pathologist, and is there a moment in your career that you’ll always carry with you?
Funny enough, my parents were the ones who first introduced me to the field of speech-language pathology back in high school! My dad, who’s now retired, helped oversee retirement communities and long-term care facilities, so he saw firsthand how impactful SLPs can be in supporting older adults. My mom, also retired now, was a lifelong educator and saw the difference SLPs make in schools.
Since I knew the field required a master’s degree, I decided to major in early childhood education as a solid foundation (and a backup plan, just in case—graduate programs can be so competitive!). Plus, I couldn’t just listen to my parents and major in it because they wanted me to! But once I got into the classroom for student teaching, I realized I was drawn to the speech therapist’s role even more than the teacher’s. So, I followed that spark, went to graduate school, and the rest is history!
