When 4-year-old Elliott Frank was diagnosed with autism and apraxia of speech, his mother, Kendra, faced a heartbreaking reality: her son couldn't tell her what he wanted or needed.

"Elliott's Voice started out of frustration," Kendra said. "I could not understand what he wanted or needed — there was a lot of crying. As a mom, I should know what he wants."

Determined to help her son communicate, Kendra launched Elliott's Voice, a nonprofit that designs and advocates for colorful, symbol-based communication boards in playgrounds, parks, museums, and other public spaces across North Texas.

The boards give children who struggle to speak a simple way to point, share, and connect. They've already been installed at Burton Hill Elementary, Elliott's school, where classmates use the board alongside him.

"It helps him with his peer relationships," Principal Matthew Bradford said. "Now other kids will use the board as well and form bonds with Elliott."

For Kendra, the boards represent freedom — not just for Elliott, but for families across the region.

"To see him communicate independently, without me… that meant the world," she said. "It meant I don't always have to be there. He can advocate for himself."

One mom told Kendra the boards helped her son choose where he wanted to go in Fort Worth for the first time. 

"She cried and told me thank you," Kendra said.

Kendra's mission is to continue advocating for communication boards in every public place.

"I want moms to know with special needs kids — cry on the floor if you need to, because that diagnosis is hard. But you have to keep going for your child," she said.

Elliott's Voice is now making sure kids who can't speak still have a way to be heard — and to play right alongside everyone else.

Each grin from Elliott reminds Kendra that a quiet voice can still speak volumes.