Giving Tuesday

We postponed our 4th birthday fundraiser in early October due to world events. This week, we are combining Giving Tuesday with that annual fundraiser and setting an ambitious goal of raising $25,000 by December 1! Help us celebrate our birthday and Giving Tuesday at the same time. We cannot advance our mission to improve the civil rights of people with speech disabilities without your support. The first $2,500 was matched by the law firm of Vanaman German LLP. The next $7,000 in contributions will be matched by The Gupta Foundation! Thank you for your generosity!

$25,150 of $25,000 raised

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Donation Total: $250.00 One Time

With your help, over the past 4 years, we have begun to transform the national conversation about the legal rights and lived experiences of people who need and use augmentative and alternative (AAC) tools and supports. We are ensuring conversations at the federal and state level around policy issues that impact us – guardianship, access to health care, restraint and seclusion, education, access to justice, employment, institutionalization, effective communication, and more – include our voices and address our interests. We are ambitious and unrelenting disabled advocates who believe in radical inclusion and acceptance. We are ﬁghting to change hearts and minds, and to build a world that centers justice, community, dignity, and humanity. And we are just getting started. We have so much more to do and with your help, we will!

logos of the nine national advocacy groups signing May 29 2020 Letter to Congress

National COVID-19 Policy Must Ensure Communication Access

By Communication First | May 29, 2020

CommunicationFIRST today joins eight other national organizations that that work with and advocate for Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations, deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, blind persons, and people who cannot rely on speech to be heard and understood, in a letter to Congress urging it to ensure the federal response to…

sepia-colored image of two hands holding another

Is Your Hospital Visitor Policy Discriminatory?

By Communication First | May 15, 2020

We have received multiple calls from around the country about overly restrictive hospital “no-visitor” policies. These policies often allow visitors for patients without disabilities, including infants, children, women giving birth, and those at the end of life, but prevent access to the support people necessary for patients with disabilities.

blurry image of well-lit hospital hallway with open red door visible at left

CommunicationFIRST Files First Challenge to Hospital Visitor Policies (UPDATED)

By Communication First | May 4, 2020

Earlier today, CommunicationFIRST, together with Disability Rights Connecticut, the Center for Public Representation, and the Arc of the United States filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) regarding the failure to provide people with disabilities reasonable accommodations to hospital no-visitor policies in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic.

image of hospital hallway with hospital bed and people in scrubs in the distance

COVID-19 Communication Rights Toolkit

By Communication First | March 27, 2020

CommunicationFIRST has prepared a COVID-19 Communication Rights Toolkit, recognizing that our population—people who face significant barriers being understood with speech and accessing effective communication supports in the best of times—is likely to face even greater barriers to accessing our necessary communication supports if we are hospitalized due to a coronavirus infection.

What Is My Name?

By Communication First | February 22, 2020

I often wonder if something as basic as my name is so difficult for people to understand, then how are they supposed to understand anything about my personality, my core, the basic essence of my being. How was I supposed to come across as smart, snarky, sexy Melissa Crisp if everyone heard Marissa Crap tumble from my lips?

CommunicationFIRST Joins Federal Lawsuit Against Illegal Restraint and Seclusion

By Communication First | October 8, 2019

Washington, DC – A lawsuit filed today alleges that students with disabilities in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) experience unjustified discrimination, psychological trauma, and physical harm from the widespread and improper use of restraint and seclusion.