Perspectives will be updated regularly with profiles and guest blogs from our members and allies, essays, news, photos, videos, and other features. Come back often!
In November and December 2020, CommunicationFIRST surveyed families of students with expressive communication disabilities and significant support needs about how well they are being supported to access their education during the pandemic. Families were invited to participate if the student had been enrolled in a public or private Pre-K to…
Read More
These nine studies, published between May and December 2020, tell us people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (including those who rely on AAC) are between 1.7 and 16 times more likely to die from COVID if they get it than those who do not have I/DD.
Read More
Those are just three of the questions asked by people who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) at our first in a series of events with civil and disability rights leaders. The July 17 event, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), featured disability rights…
Read More
Including, respecting, honoring, and listening to people who cannot rely on speech to be heard and understood can be hard if you’ve never done it before. It can be especially hard if you have never seen it done before. Genuine representation and inclusion is essential for our people to rise…
Read More
by Angelica Vega, Guest Blogger If there were one word to describe the First Presidential Debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, it would be “chaotic.” The millions of viewers who tuned in that night witnessed 90 minutes of interruptions and cringe-worthy responses. The distractions and…
Read More
On October 16, 2020, CommunicationFIRST joined with the National Association of the Deaf other communication rights organizations to formally petition the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to include text and direct video calling options to allow people with speech and hearing disabilities to access a federally mandated three-digit National Suicide Lifeline that will launch in 2022.
Read More
In response to multiple requests, we’ve prepared a resource to help our student members (US residents who cannot rely on speech to be understood) learn about their rights to the in-person supports they may need to accommodate their disabilities to access virtual education during the pandemic. If your public district…
Read More
Yesterday, CommunicationFIRST joined Disability Rights DC and other disability rights groups in filing a complaint against MedStar, a private hospital in the District of Columbia, for violating the communication rights of a patient for failing to provide him the in-person supports he requires to communicate with health care personnel and to provide informed consent.
Read More
Communication Equity Call to Action
CommunicationFIRST and the 47 undersigned supporters of communication rights, access, and equity urge the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to take immediate and specific steps to safeguard and advance the human and civil rights of people with disabilities, especially individuals who have little to no understandable speech and rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
Read More