many hands of different races in thumbs-up against blue sky

CommunicationFIRST advocates to ensure every person
has the support they need to express themselves effectively—
and to be heard.

Because everyone who finds it difficult to be understood when speaking faces similar discrimination, misperceptions, and low expectations, and because laws and policies around communication access govern regardless of the cause of the communication disability, CommunicationFIRST is intentionally cross-disability in focus. We strive to serve the interests of our diverse membership with speech-related communication disabilities, regardless of whether they have found the means to communicate effectively or whether they continue to search for robust augmentative and alternative communication supports that work for them. Our membership constituency includes people of all ages with over two dozen known and unknown expressive communication-related conditions and disabilities—congenital, developmental, and acquired later in life—including those listed below.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
Aphasia
Aphonia
Apraxia of Speech
Autism
Cerebral Palsy
Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
Dementia
Down Syndrome
Dysarthria
Dystonia
Friedreich Ataxia
Huntingtons Disease
Laryngeal Cancer and Laryngectomies
Locked-In Syndrome
Multiple Sclerosis
Muscular Dystrophies
Parkinson’s Disease
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)
Rare Genetic Syndromes, Diseases, and Disorders, including ADNP, Angelman, Rett, and Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG)
Selective Mutism
Spasmodic Dysphonia
Stuttering and Stammering
Tourette Syndrome
Tracheostomies
Traumatic Brain Injuries