#183 Presuming Competence in the Preschool Classroom

Summary

The Autism Little Learners Podcast

Episode #183: Presuming Competence in the Preschool Classroom
Host: Tara Phillips
Date: July 14, 2026

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Overview of the Episode

In this episode, Tara Phillips explores the transformative concept of "presuming competence" when supporting young autistic children in preschool settings. Drawing from personal stories, expert perspectives, and practical strategies, she emphasizes why this mindset shift is crucial in early childhood and how it shapes long-term outcomes for autistic learners. Tara offers actionable tips and reflections designed to help teachers, therapists, paraprofessionals, and caregivers foster confidence, connection, and communication—starting with the belief that every child is capable, even before they can show it.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What is "Presuming Competence"?

• Definition & Philosophy:
  • Presuming competence means believing a child has the ability to think, learn, and communicate, even if they are not yet showing these abilities in expected ways.
  • “Presuming competence isn’t something we extend only after a child proves it to us. It’s the starting posture.” (Tara Phillips, 02:15)
  • Quote (from Dr. Lisa Marnell): “Presuming competence is when an adult believes a child has the ability to excel, to think, to perform, to create, and to express themselves.” (03:00)
• Why it matters:
  • It’s about shifting from ‘prove you understand, then I’ll treat you as capable’ to ‘I’ll treat you as capable, and give you the tools to show me.’

2. Personal Story: Proving the Point (01:00–02:30)

• Tara shares an impactful story about a non-speaking 3-year-old student using a new AAC device:
  • He did not display "traditional" prerequisite skills.
  • Out of the blue, he navigates the device to say “This is boring.”
  • Quote: “That moment changed everything for me because that is communication, that is competence. … What had been missing wasn’t his ability, it was the tool and someone willing to presume he had something to say.” (01:48)

3. Why "Presume Competence" is Critical in Preschool (04:50–06:50)

• Early years are where a child’s educational trajectory is shaped.
• Harmful impacts when competence is not presumed:
  • “She [Jordan Zimmerman] remembers educators speaking about her directly in front of her, as if she wasn’t there and couldn’t understand.” (05:15)
  • “So much of this comes from a false belief that speech equals intelligence.” (06:00)
• The way we talk about a child can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• “What begins as low expectations in early childhood can become a lifetime of the same lowered expectations.” (Jordan Zimmerman, quoted at 06:30)

4. The "Prerequisite Trap" (07:00–09:30)

• The myth that students must meet certain foundational skills before receiving meaningful supports (like AAC).
  • Example: Educators saying, “He’s not ready yet. She needs to point first…” (07:25)
• Real-world pushback:
  • A speech therapist questioned Tara for providing an AAC device to a student, stating he “wasn’t ready.” The student thrived—proving the fallacy.
• “There are no prerequisites for communication. … Not pointing, not matching, not sitting still, not requesting.” (08:45)
• Analogy: We immerse babies in spoken language long before they speak—same principle applies to AAC.

5. Practical Shifts for Presuming Competence (09:45–11:35)

Concrete action steps, many from Dr. Lisa Marnell and Jordan Zimmerman:

• Do not talk about a child in front of them:
  • “If we truly believe the child understands, then we speak as though they do.” (09:50)
• Assume deeper meaning behind behaviors:
  • “Presuming competence means assuming the behavior is meaningful communication and getting curious about what it’s telling us.” (10:10)
• Hold expectations high and follow interests:
  • “A child’s deep interest isn’t a problem to be managed. It’s often the doorway to their learning.” (10:35)
• Model without expectation:
  • Model language generously, without tests or demands—no “Say it” or “Tell me on your talker.”
  • Suggestion: Eliminate hand-over-hand prompting; model instead.
• Make room for silence:
  • “Sometimes presuming competence looks like simply being a calm, trusting presence and giving a child the time and space to come to communication on their own terms.” (11:05)
• Hold assessment results loosely:
  • Recognize that testing relying on speech or specific motor responses may not reflect a child’s true intelligence.

6. Reflective Call to Action (11:35–13:10)

• Tara asks listeners to reflect on “one child whose abilities you might be quietly underestimating.”
• Encourages listeners to be ‘Scooby Doo detectives’:
  • “Is there a child in your room whose abilities you might be quietly underestimating?” (11:55)
  • Challenge: “Choose one area to shift and start there.” (12:20)

7. Final Thoughts and Takeaways (11:40–13:33)

• Return to the opening story—reminding us that the thoughts and words were there; the child just needed tools.
• “Our job isn’t to decide when a child’s ready to communicate, it’s to make sure they always have the opportunity to do so.” (12:45)
• Memorable quote, attributed to Jordan Zimmerman:
  • “We don’t know what someone knows until they have the tools to tell us.” (13:15)
• “Let’s never be the one who decides too early and too quietly what a child will never be able to do.” (13:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Presuming competence isn’t something we extend only after a child proves it to us. It’s the starting posture.”
  — Tara Phillips (02:15)

• “What had been missing wasn’t his ability, it was the tool and someone willing to presume he had something to say.”
  — Tara Phillips, on a student’s AAC breakthrough (01:48)

• “So much of this comes from a false belief that speech equals intelligence.”
  — Jordan Zimmerman, via Tara Phillips (06:00)

• “There are no prerequisites for communication. … Not pointing, not matching, not sitting still, not requesting.”
  — Tara Phillips (08:45)

• “A child’s deep interest isn’t a problem to be managed. It’s often the doorway to their learning.”
  — Tara Phillips (10:35)

• “Our job isn’t to decide when a child’s ready to communicate, it’s to make sure they always have the opportunity to do so. Communication should never be earned.”
  — Tara Phillips (12:45)

• “We don’t know what someone knows until they have the tools to tell us.”
  — Jordan Zimmerman, quoted at (13:15)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–02:30 – Introduction, story about presuming competence in AAC
• 02:30–04:40 – Definitions and foundational principles
• 04:50–06:50 – Why presumption matters in preschool; Jordan Zimmerman’s advocacy
• 07:00–09:30 – The prerequisite trap and real examples
• 09:45–11:35 – Practical classroom strategies for presuming competence
• 11:35–13:10 – Reflective questions and “Scooby Doo detective” challenge
• 13:10–13:33 – Closing thoughts and Jordan Zimmerman’s quote

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Key Takeaways

• Presuming competence is a foundational belief that underpins all support for autistic children—especially critical in the early years.
• Avoid the “prerequisite trap;” no skill should be required before providing access to meaningful supports like AAC.
• Be intentional about how you talk about and to autistic children—always assume understanding.
• Model communication and offer opportunity without pressure.
• Trust that much more is going on beneath the surface, and let your faith in the child shape your actions and attitudes.
• Even a small shift in assumption or practice can create lasting change for a child’s trajectory.

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Closing Challenge for Listeners

• Reflect on one child you may be underestimating—choose one belief or habit to shift this week.
• “Presume competence, expect more, and trust that there is always more going on than a child can show you yet.” (Tara Phillips, 13:30)

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Transcript

[A]

Today we're talking about an idea that quietly shapes everything we do with young autistic children. Presuming competence. It's one of those phrases we hear a lot. So I want to slow down and really look at what it means, why it matters so much in the preschool years, and what it actually looks like in the classroom.

[B]

I'm Tara Phillips and this is the Autism Little Learners podcast where I share simple neuroaffirming tools to support young autistic children with compassion and confidence.

[A]

I want to start today with a story about a child I'll never forget. I once worked with a three year old autistic student who came to school with a brand new AAC device. He was non speaking and by traditional and honestly outdated standards. He didn't show the skills people used to believe were prerequisites to aac. He wasn't using eye gaze to connect with others in expected ways. He didn't isolate a finger to point. He wasn't matching or engaging with cause and effect toys. He spent much of his time exploring his environment and really wasn't even vocalizing. And then one day, completely out of the blue, while he was sitting with me during an activity, he navigated his new device and said, this is boring. Oh my gosh, you guys. I remember just staring at him for a second in total disbelief and then laughing and saying, I. I'm so sorry, buddy. Let's find something else to do. That moment changed everything for me because that is communication, that is competence. That is a child having something important to say and finally having access to the words to say it. I think about him all the time because the words were there, the thoughts were there the whole time. What had been missing wasn't his ability, it was the tool and someone willing to presume he had something to say. That's what I want to talk about today. What does presuming competence actually mean? Let's define it, because it's easy to nod along to a phrase without pinning down what it asks of us. Dr. Lisa Marnell put it simply. Presuming competence is when an adult believes a child has the ability to excel, to think, to perform, to create and to express themselves. We start with the belief that there is a capable mind in there, even when the child isn't yet showing us the ways we're used to looking for it. And here's the key piece, the one thing that's easy to miss. Presuming competence isn't something we extend only after a child proves it to us. It's the starting Posture. It's what we believe before we have evidence. Precisely because the child may not yet have the tools to give us that evidence. Jordan Zimmerman, a non speaking autistic educator and advocate, says it about as clearly as anyone can. We don't know what someone knows until they have the tools and support to communicate it. So in the meantime, we presume that they understand that little reversal changes everything. The old way says, show me you understand and and then I'll treat you as capable. Presuming competence says, I'll treat you as capable and I'll give you the tools so you can show me. You might be wondering, why does this matter so much right now in the preschool classroom with our youngest learners? And the honest answer is that this is exactly where the trajectory gets set. Jordan has talked about her own school years and it's hard to hear you guys. She remembers educators speaking about her directly in front of her, as if she wasn't there and couldn't understand. They described what she supposedly couldn't do. They predicted things she'd never be capable of. One even suggested her parents institutionalize her. And she heard all of it. She understood far more than anyone assumed she could. She named something that I think we all need to sit with. So much of this comes from a false belief that speech equals intelligence. If the child isn't talking, there must not be a lot going on inside. And that belief does real harm because it shapes the decisions that we make about a child before they even get a fair chance. There's a phrase Jordan uses that has stuck with me. She talks about how the way we describe a child can become a self fulfilling prophecy. When we decide a child is non communicative, we stop making the effort to give them the tools to communicate. When we decide a child can only handle so called functional skills, sorting items, putting things in boxes, we hand them a narrowed curriculum. And as she puts it, what begins as low expectations in early childhood can become a lifetime of the same lowered expectations. That's why the preschool years matter so much. We're not just supporting this moment. We we are quietly deciding what we believe the child is capable of becoming. And children grow toward the expectations that we hold for them. There's one pattern I really want to name because it shows up everywhere and it's the opposite of presuming competence. I call it the prerequisite trap. It sounds like this, he's not ready yet. She needs to point first. They have to be able to match or sit or imitate or have safe behavior before we give them Real communication tools like a robust AAC device or real instruction or full access to the curriculum. I had a student years ago who I helped get an AAC device before he moved on to kindergarten. The speech therapist at his new school actually called me and asked, why did you get him this device? He's not ready for it. And I'll tell you, that little boy has communicating away on that device for for years now. He proved them wrong the same way Jordan has her whole life. Jordan names this trap so well, one of these prerequisites that she ran into was needing to have safe behavior before instruction or supports or services could happen. But think about what that demands. It asks a dysregulated child to first become regulated on their own without the very tools that could help them regulate before we'll give them access to those tools. It's a cycle that can't resolve. The prerequisite itself becomes the barrier. And here's the thing we know now and we say often in our AAC work, there are no prerequisites for communication. There are no prerequisites for aac. Not pointing, not matching, not sitting still, not requesting. None of the so called readiness skills that little boy I told you about supposedly lacked rapidly right before he told me. This is boring. We don't ask babies to prove they're ready for spoken language before we talk to them. We immerse them in it for years, long before they say a word back. Communication tools work the same way. Access comes first. Learning comes through exposure and modeling. Waiting for readiness usually means waiting way too long. So let's get practical. What does presuming competence actually look like on an ordinary Tuesday in a preschool room? I want to offer a handful of concrete shifts, and several of these come straight from Lisa Marnell. First, and maybe most important, we don't talk about a child in front of them. We presume they understand every word. This one is simple to say and surprisingly hard to do because we're used to debriefing with a co teacher or a para right in the room. But if we truly believe the child understands, then we speak as though they do.

[B]

Always.

[A]

Jordan's story is the reason that this is not optional. Second, we presume there are deeper reasons for behavior. It's tempting to reduce a child's actions to a few simple categories. They want attention. They want escape. They want a thing. But that's a thin explanation for a whole human being. Presuming competence means assuming the behavior is meaningful communication and getting curious about what it's telling us. Third, we hold expectations high and we follow a child's interests instead of restricting them. A child's deep interest isn't a problem to be managed. It's often the doorway to their learning. When we lean into what lights the child up, we're saying, I trust that this excites you and it's leading us somewhere. Fourth, we model without expectation. This is huge, and it's worth its own episode. But the short version is we show a child language on their device, in our gestures, in our words, on a core board, without demanding they perform back. That means we don't say, you say it or your turn or tell me on your talker. We don't hand over hand force the right answer. We model the way we'd talk to any toddler, generously, repeatedly, with no testing attached. Lisa even suggests setting aside hand over hand prompting entirely and modeling actions instead. And I agree with her. Fifth, we make room for silence. Lisa offers this as real, practical advice and. And I love it. Choosing to sit in silence more often with a child, letting them know you're there, that you're not pressuring them, that you respect them. Sometimes presuming competence looks like simply being a calm, trusting presence and giving a child the time and space to come to communication on their own terms. And finally, we hold our assessments loosely. Lisa makes a point that I think is so important. Cognitive testing relies on speaking and on motor responses to be scored. So for a child who is still developing speech or whose body doesn't move the way the test expects, those scores can dramatically underestimate what's actually inside. Presuming competence means we don't take a low number as the truth about the child. We presume there's intelligence there and that the test simply couldn't reach it. As you're listening today, I would love for you to think about one child with curiosity rather than judgment. Maybe the one who came to mind during my story. Is there a child in your room whose abilities you might be quietly underestimating without even realizing it? Not out of unkindness, none of this is about that. But simply because they haven't yet had the tools to show you what they know? Sometimes I like to think of it as us being Scooby Doo detectives. We've got to do our Scooby Doo detective work. And like Lori on my team at Autism Little Learner says, let's Scooby Doo this. So I encourage you all to Scooby Doo it. What's one assumption you might set down for this week? One moment where you choose to talk to them as if they understand every word, because they very well might. You don't have to change everything all at once. Leesa offers this as a challenge and I'll pass it on to you. Choose one area to shift and start there. I want to come back to where we started, to that little boy in his brand new device. The words were there, the thoughts were there, the opinions clearly were there.

[B]

All of it.

[A]

The whole time he just needed the tool and an adult who believed he had something worth saying long before he could prove it. And am I going to take offense at him telling me this is boring? Heck no. I am going to celebrate that and I'm going to find something more fun for him to do. He reminded me of something that I want to leave with you too. Our job isn't to decide when a child's ready to communicate, it's to make sure they always have the opportunity to do so. Communication should never be earned. That's a gift presuming competence offers our children. It says, I believe there is a capable, thinking, feeling person here and I'm going to act like it and give you the tools until the day you show me yourself. And some days that day comes when you least expect it in two words on a device that stop you in your tracks. As Jordan says, we don't know what someone knows until they have the tools to tell us. So let's presume the best. Let's expect more and support more. And let's never be the one who decides too early and too quietly what a child will never be able to do. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me and for the way that you show up for the children you care for. If this episode was helpful, I'd love for you to share it with a fellow teacher, therapist or caregiver that works with autistic children. And I would love for you to go and give this show a rating and also leave a review because that is how we get it out to more people and spread the word about these shifts. And if you're looking for more practical neuroaffirming strategies, come and find us in the Autism Little Learners membership. There's a link in the show notes just for you to learn more about that. Until next time. Remember, presume competence, expect more, and trust that there is always more going on than a child can show you yet.

[B]

Thank you for spending this time with me. You're doing important work and the small supports you put into place matter. Keep leading with connection and I'LL talk to you again next week.