Push back on the narrative of Medicaid being fraudulent or wasteful! Share your experiences with #Medicaid & #HCBS to inform the upcoming Senate Budget Committee Hearing. Email your statement for the record to Anirudh_Srirangam@budget.senate.gov by Wednesday, August 5 @ 12pm ET. [Image: A close-up…

Our partners at DREDF and AAPD released a new report on barriers to #DisabilityBenefits. They found more barriers came about as the government cut staff and regional offices, replacing some with #AI: lnk.to/barrier. @dredf.bsky.social @aapd.com 📸 Photo Credit: @affecttheverb.com/Disabled and Here…

We conducted focus groups with #AACUsers to better understand our community’s perspectives on #ArtificialIntelligence. Findings informed the Consumer Technology Association white paper on #AI and #Accessibility: lnk.to/AIwhtppr. [Image: Focus group participant Juan Cobeñas sits at a desk with… 1/2

With George Washington University’s handy new tool, keep track of, and submit your own updates on how federal policy changes are impacting home and community-based services for disabled people: lnk.to/trackHCBS. #HCBS @milkeninstitute.org 📸 Photo Credit: @affecttheverb.com/Disabled and Here 1/2

Featuring perspectives from nonspeaking self-advocates, clinicians, researchers, and legal experts on communication access, the right to communicate, and the growing movement to give every nonspeaking autistic person a voice. 📰 View it Now: https://autismspectrumnews.org/asn-summer-2026-issue/

“When other people know how to be respectful…they’re much more likely to include us.” Check out a new guide to #allyship by our own Ren Koloni, & learn AAC-related rights & tips for supporting them! Ren is featured in Autism Spectrum News’s Summer Issue. lnk.to/ltpfAAC [Video: Ren Koloni… 1/3

We should not have to prove that we deserve #healthcare. The federal government has a new rule that could make it harder for people who need #AAC to keep #Medicaid. Send in your comments to oppose this by July 31 at 11:59pm ET! Use our helpful tips: lnk.to/wrkreq. 📸 Photo credit: Norma Mortenson…

We should not have to prove that we deserve #healthcare. The federal government has a new rule that could make it harder for people who need #AAC to keep #Medicaid. Send in your comments to oppose this by July 31 at 11:59pm ET! Use our helpful tips: lnk.to/wrkreq. 📸 Photo credit: Norma Mortenson…

The #DOJ released a memo stating it will not enforce the #Olmstead decision, which protects the right of people with #disabilities to choose where to live. Learn about this attack on our community & how to take action via the explainer: First In, Last Out. lnk.to/olmmem [Image: “We must not… 1/2

Action needed June 25th 2026. Call Congress: Protect children with disabilities. Keep IDEA at ED. Switchboard: 202-224-3121 Please share with families, educators, and advocates. You can find the script here: https://bit.ly/IDEA-CALL-IN-SCRIPT

Ready to wear the change you want to see in the world? The Jordyn Zimmerman Speech Does Not Make Someone More Human Shirts are back, but only through June 30! Get yours now and support the fight for #CommunicationRights. lnk.to/shpc @jordynbzim.bsky.social [Image: Sitting in front of a… 1/2

We helped create plain-language versions of articles published in the Journal of #AAC. Articles drew from the Future of AAC Research Summit we organized in May 2024 with the RERC on AAC. Authors include #AliceWong: lnk.to/nwacs. Thanks to NWACS for leading this effort! [Video: Alice Wong with… 1/3

Enter our Jordyn Zimmerman Shirt giveaway! Think of someone who's new to CommunicationFIRST & tag them in a comment. You could win a Jordyn Shirt (of your choice), which supports the fight for #CommunicationRights. A winner will be randomly chosen on 6/18. lnk.to/shpc @jordynbzim.bsky.social 1/2

Having trouble communicating might be a part of your life that you can’t avoid. Here's how to communicate with others, when you’re stressed, upset, in pain, dysregulated, or in a difficult or dangerous situation. Advice from @communicationfirst.bsky.social: communicationfirst.org/communicatin...

Communicating in Times of Stress Resource

For people with lived experience, allies, and lifeline workers.

communicationfirst.org

If you are truly interested in understanding the needs and experiences of being autistic and non-speaking, avoid mainstream coverage and evidence-rejecting "advocates." Instead, follow orgs like @communicationfirst.bsky.social & also people like @neuroscientist.bsky.social & @jordynbzim.bsky.social.

Congrats to our friends Samuel & Dan Habib on winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding #SocialIssue Documentary! Watch their film #TheRideAhead on 6/30 at 1pm PT/4pm ET. CommunicationFIRST Board Member Judy Heumann & co-founder Bob Williams are interviewed! lnk.to/rascreen [Image: Co-directors… 1/2

F&R and @dredf.bsky.social filed an amicus brief to protect the right of individual disabled people to challenge discrimination by executive agencies, including the President. We support the NAD’s efforts to make the WH provide ASL interpreters. #disabilityrights foxrob.com/2026/06/03/f...

F&R Files Amicus Brief Challenging White House Refusal to Provide Sign Language Interpreters. | Fox & Robertson

Along with co-author Michelle Uzeta, Executive Director of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, F&R filed an amicus brief on behalf of DREDF and eight other disability rights organization...

foxrob.com

Our Director of Policy & Legal Advocacy Sam Crane spoke at Healthier Together! Sam, Henry Claypool (Brandeis’s Community Living Policy Center) & Michelle Meade (Univ. of MI Center for Disability Health & Wellness) discussed #HealthCare best practices for people with disabilities. 1/4

“Every message already takes attention, motor planning, & time,” says Hari Srinivasan, Neuroscience Ph.D. candidate & #AACUser. “When technology adds corrections & guesswork, it compounds that effort.” He explains how engineered exclusion harms #AACUsers: lnk.to/desdig. @neuroscientist.bsky.social

Father’s Day will be here sooner than you think. Be ready to show the father figures in your life some love. Get them (and the whole family!) CommunicationFIRST gear to help us win the fight for #CommunicationRights and #access: lnkfi.re/c1shp. [Image 1: A grandpa wearing a CommunicationFIRST… 1/3

Want to learn more about advocacy by & for people with speech-related disabilities? Subscribe to our newsletter! A few times each month, get updates on calls to action, programming, & the latest from our colleagues. lnkfi.re/nc1st 📸: #VisibleAAC photo from DJ Reinhardt [Image: A person sits… 1/2

Welcome our new Board Treasurer, Shubha Balabaer! They are a #DisabilityAdvocate, social & racial justice activist, & parent to a #nonspeaker. They help other parents connect to a broader #DisabilityJustice movement & ways of disability-centered parenting. lnk.to/shubha [Image: Shubha… 1/2

People with speech-related disabilities are a diverse community with a lot to say. We communicate with #AAC, including low-tech & high-tech tools & with support people like revoicers. Learn from us in our own words: watch All Our Voices. lnk.to/allvces [Video: First wearing a sweatshirt that says,…

In our series about AAC users in higher ed, Ren Koloni discusses their work on #disability & racial justice, Glenda Watson Hyatt discusses her thesis on employment discrimination of AAC users, & Lateef McLeod shares about his dissertation on peer supports. lnk.to/aachred @glendalwh.bsky.social 1/2

We attended the National Federation of the Blind’s tenBroek Disability Law Symposium. Our Director of Policy & Legal Advocacy Sam Crane presented on #SupportedDecisionMaking alongside #AACUser & SDM advocate Otto Lana, DREDF’s Ayesha Elaine Lewis, & ACLU’s Britt Belwine. @dredf.bsky.social @aclu.org

CommunicationFIRST Program Associate Ren Koloni shares their experience in graduate school as a multiply #disabled #AACUser. Ren discusses #access for our community and their research on #ableism in medical settings: lnk.to/RenGrad. [Image: Headshot of Ren Koloni accompanied by a quote. It says,...

It's not too early to start shopping for Mother’s Day. With some new #CommunicationRights gear, moms (and their sidekicks!) will look great and support our mission. Browse CommunicationFIRST shirts and accessories: lnkfi.re/c1shp. [Image: A woman holds a baby, both smiling broadly. The baby,… 1/2

Listen is a wonderful short film, if you haven't seen it yet. Because there is no #AutismAcceptanceMonth without autistic AAC users—including those who need, but don't currently have or use, AAC. Thank you @communicationfirst.bsky.social & film cast for your messages. communicationfirst.org/LISTEN/

#TheTruthAboutAutism is folks have a lot to say about it, but they are not listening to #nonspeakers. CommunicationFIRST firmly believes in the motto #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs. To learn about communication rights & access from autistic people, watch LISTEN: lnkfi.re/listenfilm. @autisticadvocacy.org

CommunicationFIRST has endorsed the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the once-controversial statue of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair at the #FDR Memorial. Our co-founder Bob Williams attended 2001’s statue dedication with fellow #disability leaders. 📸 Image... 1/2