Unspoken Stories : Learning to Listen to People with Intellectual Disabilities who are Non-Speaking

Unspoken Stories follows the lives of Cassie and Owen, two non-speaking young people with intellectual disabilities, to learn how they communicate, love, grieve and make sense of a world without words. Featuring cover artwork by Nnena Kalu, winner of the 2025 Turner Prize.

This book reveals the inner worlds of non-speaking young people with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on many months of immersive observation of Cassie and Owen, two young people living in a specialist residential school, author Beverley Samways reveals the emotional depth and intelligence often overlooked in 'behaviour', showing that when we truly listen - beyond speech - we can discover rich inner worlds and the profound human need for connection. Eschewing formal academic approaches, she instead uses ethnography and narrative non-fiction to offer a tender, beautifully written journey into Cassie and Owen's emotional, sensory and relational worlds. Exploring how feelings can pass between people non-verbally, shaping behaviour and relationships, and how adults must hold and process these emotions carefully for a young person to feel safe, she challenges the systems intended to support these individuals, and reimagines what it means to listen to those who so often go unheard.