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A Working Definition and Request for Input For centuries, people with significant speech disabilities have been treated as if we should not be seen or heard. Our ability, right, and basic need to express ourselves have been routinely overlooked and denied. Our words have been questioned because we do not…
Guest blog by Jordyn Zimmerman, M.Ed. On November 18, 2022, CommunicationFIRST Board Chair Jordyn Zimmerman gave an invited presentation at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)’s Annual Convention in New Orleans entitled, “SLPs as Gatekeepers: Reimagining, Challenging, and Pushing Our Assumptions.” The presentation generated lots of discussion, with one attendee commenting,…
Bob Williams Testimony on behalf of CommunicationFIRST on the Rights of Children and Youth to Effective Communication and Quality Health Care in Pediatric and Other Health Care Settings Supporting Access for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative https://safedbp.org/ October 6, 2022 Good afternoon. I am Bob Williams, Policy Director of CommunicationFIRST. We are the…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CommunicationFIRST joins other disability rights advocates to express dismay at the public and media response to a current political candidate’s communication disability. Over the past few weeks, the media has focused unduly on communication-related accommodations reasonably requested by the candidate, and cast the candidate’s apparent audio processing…
On October 3, 2022, CommunicationFIRST submitted comments to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on its proposed rules to implement and enforce Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. These regulations include protections for people who cannot rely on speech to be heard and understood, and require…
(Leer en español abajo) In this open-captioned, ASL-interpreted webinar, which originally aired live on October 19, 2022, you’ll hear from CommunicationFIRST Board Member Pancho Ramirez about his personal journey becoming paralyzed and losing the ability to speak at age 20, and his pioneering role in a clinical trial that is developing groundbreaking…
Leer en español How we Communicate our Culture September 15 through October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, a month-long celebration to recognize and honor the diverse cultures, histories, and experiences of Hispanic Americans in the United States. (The terms Hispanic and Latinx are not entirely interchangeable, but some people…
Read in English Como Comunicamos Nuestra Cultura Del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre es el Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana, una celebración de un mes para reconocer y honrar las diversas culturas, historias y experiencias de los hispanoamericanos en los Estados Unidos. (Los términos hispano y latino/a/x…
CommunicationFIRST Celebrates Disability Voting Rights Week with REV UP “Vote as if your life depends on it … because it does.” Justin Dart, father of the Americans with Disabilities Act September 12-16, 2022, marks Disability Voting Rights Week. Disability Voting Rights Week is a nonpartisan initiative of the American…