
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!
Help us reach our goal!
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!
School Shootings Easy-Read Resource (Updated)
We are devastated that there is a need for such a resource, but CommunicationFIRST is humbled to partner with The…
Thoughts from an Autistic AAC User After the April 2022 Meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
Grant Blasko, a nonspeaking autistic augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) user and member of CommunicationFIRST’s Advisory Council, expressed the following…
Bob Williams’s Invited Comments to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
CommunicationFIRST was one of five entities and individuals invited to deliver three-minute “oral” public comments to the US Interagency Autism…
Jordyn Zimmerman’s Remarks to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
The following is the text of CommunicationFIRST Board Member Jordyn Zimmerman’s invited remarks to the US Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee…
Autism Acceptance … of Communication Stress?
Grant Blasko is a member of CommunicationFIRST’s Advisory Council. He is 19 years old, autistic, a full-time user of augmentative…
Comments to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
On April 14, 2022, from 1:00-5:00 pm Eastern US time, the US Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) will be holding…
Running From the Ecological Wave
The poem “Running from the Ecological Wave” was written by CommunicationFIRST Board member Lateef McLeod, who lives in Oakland, California.…
Section 504 Needs to be Strengthened
On February 22, 2022, CommunicationFIRST was invited to provide comments at a stakeholder listening session sponsored by the Office for…
Reflection of a Black Immigrant Woman with a Speech Disability
Guest Blog by Laka Mitiku Negassa As a Black, immigrant woman with an acquired disability, I celebrate monumental events such…