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Connecting on AAC Research Opportunities

By Communication FIRST | Oct 29, 2024
A smiling young girl uses her AAC device. Three women surrounding the girl cheer her on, and another woman sitting at the dining room table with them takes notes.

If you are a researcher, an AAC user interested in research opportunities, or a person supporting an AAC user interested in these opportunities, learn about how we can best connect you!
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Tips for Online Meetings with AAC Users, by AAC Users

By Communication FIRST | Aug 30, 2024
A drawing of five hands represents the Five Finger/Number voting method. The first hand holds up one finger, the second hand holds up two, the third hand holds up three, the fourth hand holds up four, and the fifth hand holds up five.

This resource includes quick tips written by AAC users on organizing and hosting online meetings with AAC users.
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Bob Williams on Literacy and AAC

By Communication FIRST | Aug 23, 2024
Bob Williams and Jordyn Zimmerman sit on a dais chatting with one another. They both have AAC devices in front of them.

Bob Williams’s Literacy and AAC presentation was first given at the Future of AAC Research Summit on May 14, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia.
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Technology for Equitable Communication: AAC Users Weigh In

By Communication FIRST | Jul 25, 2024
Three different speech generating devices are on a round table among drinking glasses and dinner plates. An AAC user's hand is in view as they type on one of the devices.

CommunicationFIRST held a brainstorming session to begin to identify some of the “good, bad, and ugly” ways technologies can uniquely impact people with speech-related disabilities.
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New Film, 13 AAC Users: Priorities for Future Research

By Communication FIRST | Jul 11, 2024
Pancho Ramirez, a Latino AAC user, uses his AAC device.

CommunicationFIRST publicly recruited a diverse group of AAC users who were willing to be interviewed on camera about their priorities for AAC research.
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AAC Research Summit: Select AAC Users on Research Priorities

By Communication FIRST | Jun 21, 2024
Screenshot of Alice Wong from her video presentation

In a first-of-its-kind event held May 13-14, 2024, people with speech-related disabilities from around the U.S. told senior federal officials and researchers how future research dollars should be prioritized.
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The Census Bureau Needs to Start Counting Us

By Communication FIRST | Dec 29, 2023
Stock photo of a crowd viewed from above

On December 19, 2023, CommunicationFIRST asked the US Census Bureau to begin formally counting the estimated 5 million people in the US who need and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools and supports to be understood. The Census Bureau asked for comment about a proposed new speech-related question…
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Digital Accessibility for AAC Users is a Civil Rights Issue

By Communication FIRST | Nov 7, 2023
Stock image photo of white hands typing on a laptop keyboard

Government websites and apps are a central lever for exercising our civic and constitutionally grounded rights and responsibilities of freedom of expression, assembly, grievance, petition, protest, jury duty, and the franchise. As a matter of right and necessity, people who need AAC must be afforded equally effective access to state and local government websites and apps that all others are afforded.
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Federally Funded Research About AAC Needs to Change

By Communication FIRST | Nov 7, 2023
Stock image photo showing two hands, one on a tablet and one holding a writing utensil in front of an open laptop

Last month, CommunicationFIRST submitted extensive input to one of the largest federal government funders of AAC-related research – the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) – on its proposed 2024-2028 Long Range Plan. In these comments, among other points, CommunicationFIRST shared the following: Flawed and…
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