Unlocking Potential Through Presumed Competence
Welcome to Yarrow RPM. Guided by Jainaf Aafrin, a Level 1 certified Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) practitioner, we provide RPM instruction and custom interdisciplinary curriculum design for neurodivergent students, including those who are non-verbal, unreliably verbal, verbal, on the spectrum, or have related disorders.
Meet Your Practitioner: Jainaf
- Certified RPM Practitioner: Completed Level 1 Certification with HALO (Helping Autism through Learning and Outreach) on July 2, 2026, trained in Soma Mukhopadhyay's Rapid Prompting Method.
- Systems-Driven Approach: Brings a structured, analytical, and systematic mindset to sensory-motor mapping and academic lesson design.
- Personalized & Empathetic Care: Dedicated to creating a safe, respectful, and intellectually stimulating environment where students feel understood, presumed competent, and supported in communicating.
"My daughter is now 15. When we discovered RPM when she was 14, I was still teaching her addition and subtraction to 100. I thought she had dyscalculia and dyslexia because she couldn't communicate through traditional methods. After RPM, she is showing academic capabilities I never knew she had. It helped reveal what she could do, rather than what traditional methods assumed she could do."
— Jainaf Aafrin, Founder of Yarrow RPMWhat is Rapid Prompting Method (RPM)?
Developed by Soma Mukhopadhyay, RPM is a structured, academic-based communication and teaching method that uses motor-based responses to help students communicate.
Academic-Based Instruction
Uses age-appropriate academic content to teach students how to communicate through intentional motor choices.
Multi-Sensory Engagement
Engages visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic channels while building motor control step by step.
Presumption of Competence
Starts from the premise that students have age-appropriate intelligence, regardless of speech or motor challenges.
Progressive Motor Output
Builds motor responses gradually, from simple choices toward more complex formats such as letterboards, touchscreens, and keyboards. Progress varies by student.
Who RPM Is For
RPM is designed for students whose communication is limited by motor planning difficulties, such as apraxia. Students may be:
- Non-verbal: Do not use speech to communicate.
- Unreliably verbal: Speak, but speech is not consistently intentional or reliable.
- Verbal: Speak, including students whose speech is affected by apraxia, such as unintended words, repeating the same phrase, or looping on a word.
RPM in Action
RPM uses tactile response boards tailored to each student's motor skill level.
Using choice boards to build confidence and communicate responses.
Using an ABCD grid board for direct motor spelling and communication.
Presuming Competence
The Risk of Underestimating
When students cannot speak or perform motor tasks in conventional ways, others may mistake motor or sensory barriers for a lack of understanding.
Performance vs. Knowledge
Speech and intentional motor control are complex. Difficulty with speech does not mean a student cannot understand academic material.
"Students who cannot talk may not be able to show how much they know, if we do not ask them. And many times if we do not ask them in the right way, and if they cannot perform the way we expect them to perform, we begin to underestimate them, thinking that they don't understand language."
— Soma Mukhopadhyay, Developing Communication For Autism Using Rapid Prompting MethodWhy Communication Matters
Reliable communication supports learning, self-advocacy, and relationships:
Showing What Students Know
Gives students a way to share their thoughts, reasoning, and knowledge.
Reducing Frustration
Gives students more functional ways to express needs, which can reduce frustration.
Self-Advocacy
Helps students express choices, opinions, pain, and emotional states.
Connection
Supports meaningful relationships with family members, peers, and educators.
Key Principles of the Method
Multi-Sensory Teaching
Engages visual and auditory channels alongside tactile and kinesthetic channels.
Pacing
Keeps lessons moving so students stay engaged and practice responding.
Session Pricing
Includes a 5-minute parent discussion
Work With Yarrow RPM
- 1-on-1 Student Sessions: Held Saturdays & Sundays in Louisville, CO.
- Custom Curriculum Design: Interdisciplinary lesson plans tailored to each student's age and learning needs.
- Parent & Provider Training: Guidance on applying RPM techniques at home and in school.
RPM is a method that tries different approaches to identify the best way for each student to communicate.
Get In Touch With Jainaf →