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Hi, I’m Savy Hester. I founded the Autism Map Maker School and Resource Center because I refused to accept that the road ended where the school system said it did.

For over 15 years, I have lived at the intersection of Deafness and Autism. This isn’t just my career; it is my life, my family, and my heart. My perspective was shaped early on, raised in a specialty foster home focused on children with special needs, often stemming from trauma or neglect. I spent every summer since age seven laminating PECS cards and making folder games for siblings who needed foundational support. I learned early on that you have to watch for the gaps and adapt the tools until they work.

 

My "Why": The Tale of Two Paths

I have walked this path as a sister and a mother, and those two experiences define our mission.

I watched the system fail my brother, CJ. He was severely abused as a child and entered the system with no language. A high school special education teacher once looked me dead in the face and said, "We both know he's capped, right?" Wrong. He wasn't capped; he was underserved. He aged out of a school system that never provided the education he was owed.

I refused to let that happen to my daughter, Tig. Like CJ, she is Profoundly Deaf and Autistic. When the Sulphur tornado took the roof off our home, it forced a sudden halt to our lives. I looked around and realized the school system was struggling to support her language deprivation and complex needs. In 2023, her classroom goal was number identification to 20.

I pulled her out to homeschool her using the methods I had honed over my career, and she took off. Today, she is reading fluently and doing multiplication. We went from five "safe foods" to her being the best eater in the family. She has overcome so many barriers that she recently barely qualified for Level 1 support needs.

I created Autism Map Maker so that other children can have the "Tig" type of outcome, and help the Cj's have a 2nd chance at community.

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What We Do (The Methodology)

 

Currently, we act as a specialized resource and educational support system for children who—like Tig—are often underestimated or misunderstood by traditional models. We don't just teach; we build new maps for learning.

• We Locate the Gaps: Standardized education often tries to force a child onto an existing map. We do the opposite. We look for the foundational gaps—whether in language, sensory processing, or trauma—that are stalling progress.

• Language First: Drawing on my background at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf and my fluency in ASL, we prioritize communication access. Whether a child is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or non-speaking Autistic, we believe language access is the key that unlocks behavior and academics.

• Trauma-Informed Academics: My background as a Crisis Prevention Trainer and Conscious Discipline Mentor means we approach learning through a lens of safety and regulation. We know that a child cannot learn if their nervous system is in defense mode.

• Shattering "Caps": We do not believe in arbitrary limits. If a child is stuck on number identification, we don't just drill numbers; we find a different way to teach math. We presume competence.

Our Vision: The Future Center

Right now, we are proving that this model works. But our goal is to expand this impact by securing a dedicated building for the Autism Map Maker School and Resource Center.

 

Once we have our physical home, we plan to:

• Create a Sanctuary for Learning: Establish a sensory-designed environment that minimizes the triggers found in typical schools (fluorescent lights, chaotic hallways) so students can focus on connection and curriculum.

• Launch a Full-Day Program: Move from resource support to a full educational program for students who are slipping through the cracks of the public school system—specifically those at the intersection of Autism and language deprivation.

• Centralize Therapy and Education: Bring the "Map Maker" philosophy under one roof, where academic goals and behavioral health (regulation, feeding, social skills) are integrated, not siloed.

• Parent & Community Training: Use the space to train parents and educators, sharing the tools and "maps" that we have successfully used to help our students thrive.

 

We are charting a new course for these children. We are proving that with the right map, there is always a way through.