Liv It Up CT

09/03/2026

We live in a society that privileges speech above all other methods of communication. If you’re someone fortunate enough to be able to use speech reliably as your main method of communication, chances are you don’t have to spend a lot of time or energy thinking about how you access it.

That's a privilege.

Our society also frequently equates speech and emotional regulation with intelligence. If you've never had someone make a snap judgement about your capability based on your outward appearance or communication, you might not understand the pain of being misjudged, often for years.

That's a privilege, too.

At Reach Every Voice, we recognize the privilege that comes with speaking and being in control of our motor systems. And we work to amplify the words and ideas of those whose voices have been marginalized.

Our student Ryan proudly shares,
"I am a nonspeaker. My body does not always reflect what my mind is thinking. With patience you will see my true intelligence."

As you move through your day today, stop and ask yourself what you may have taken for granted and how you can work to reframe your assumptions around nonspeaking people.

[id: a photograph of a smiling young man in a baseball cap and hoodie sitting in his car. The words from the quote shared in the caption are on the photo surrounded by blue accents.]

09/01/2026

🚨 UPCOMING EVENTS 🚨

Have any questions about any of these events? Drop them in the comments below or reach out to us at [email protected]

Can’t wait to see you!

Liv It Up Flow Fest
Sat September 19
Easton Community Center
1pm-4pm

Halloween Carnival of Chaos
Sat October 17
Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
4pm-7pm

Glow Wild
Thu November 5
Beardsley Zoo
5pm - 6:30pm**
**Zoo opens up to public at 6:30

Let It Snow
Sun December 13
Marriott Trumbull
4pm - 7pm

Which one are you most excited for?

08/30/2026

Help support our friends Flower Petals Adaptive Dance Company!
This event will feature a film screening with light refreshments and be followed by a Q&A from the producers and members of the Spelling community.

A Fundraising Event to Support FlowerPetalsAdaptiveDanceCo. This Event will feature a film screening, light refreshments followed by a Q&A from the producers…

08/29/2026

If you’re taking an autistic or neurodivergent child to Disneyland California — SAVE THIS.

We used Disney’s Disability Access Service (DAS) and it made a huge difference.

1️⃣ Apply for DAS before you go
We did a video call after linking our park tickets. It wasn’t simply about having an autism diagnosis — I explained the boys’ actual difficulties with conventional queues: anxiety, crowds, people being too close, loud noise and enclosed/dark spaces.

2️⃣ DAS is basically a virtual wait
Choose an eligible ride in the Disneyland app and you’re given a return time based on the standby wait. You can spend that time elsewhere instead of standing in the conventional queue. You can hold one DAS return time at a time.

3️⃣ ARRIVE EARLY
We got there at 8am and this was probably our best decision. Cooler, quieter and we barely waited for anything early on — even around Star Wars.

4️⃣ We bought Lightning Lane Multi Pass too
It was around $36 each that day. My thinking was we could use Lightning Lane while waiting for a DAS return time. In reality, we hardly needed it because arriving early + DAS worked so well.

5️⃣ TAKE A MIDDAY BREAK
We went back to our hotel for around 2 hours, let the boys completely reset, then returned. I highly recommend this rather than pushing through until everyone is exhausted.

6️⃣ Bring refillable water bottles
Disney has bottle-filling stations around the parks, so don’t keep buying expensive drinks.

For us:

DAS + 8AM ARRIVAL + MIDDAY BREAK = a completely different Disney experience.

SAVE this for your trip and share it with another SEND family. 💜 Disneyland

08/27/2026

We want to give a very special shout out to Gabby at Park City Music Hall - you have been such an amazing partner for our Karaoke Summer Series 💜

We had such a blast this summer, belting our hearts out and dancing like no one was watching.

Can’t wait to partner with you guys again … stay tuned for more info coming 👀

08/25/2026

Neurodivergent writers, advisers, animators and voice actors helped shape the show, including autistic actor Kai Barham, who voices Carl. The team worked with autistic people throughout production to help make the characters feel authentic rather than simply writing autism from an outside perspective.

Amazing!!

PBS KIDS’ Carl the Collector made history as the network’s first series centered around autistic main characters — but the representation didn’t stop on screen. 💚

Neurodivergent writers, advisers, animators and voice actors helped shape the show, including autistic actor Kai Barham, who voices Carl. The team worked with autistic people throughout production to help make the characters feel authentic rather than simply writing autism from an outside perspective.

Now the series has won two Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Series — a pretty incredible milestone for a show built with autistic voices at its heart.

Representation is growing in children’s TV, but there’s still plenty of room for more. What other autistic characters or shows have your family loved watching? 👇

Source: PBS KIDS

08/24/2026

🚨 UPCOMING EVENTS 🚨

Have any questions about any of these events? Drop them in the comments below or reach out to us at [email protected]

Can’t wait to see you!

Liv It Up Flow Fest
Sat September 19
Easton Community Center
1pm-4pm

Halloween Carnival of Chaos
Sat October 17
Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
4pm-7pm

Which one are you most excited for?

08/23/2026

When anxiety hits, breathing can suddenly feel tight, fast or “wrong”. That can be frightening, especially when your body feels like it’s sounding an alarm.

Try this gently: breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, then pause for 4. Repeat a few times at your own pace.

You do not need a huge, perfect breath. Small and steady is enough. The aim is simply to give your body a message: “I’m safe right now. I can slow this down.”

For children and teens, it can help to practise this when they’re calm too, so it feels familiar when worries start building.

If breathing trouble is new, severe, or comes with chest pain, fainting or feeling very unwell, seek urgent medical help.

FREE BOX BREATHING FOR ANXIETY WHEN BREATHING FEELS TIGHT

LIKE the photo and comment "WHEN" and we will send you a message with a link to a free PDF of this resource.

08/23/2026

Every person deserves to know they matter.
To contribute.
To be heard.
To have purpose.
Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer isn't a strategy or a tool.
It's believing that someone's voice is worth waiting for.
And worth working for.
Join us at Communication For Education where we not only provide the strategies and tools for communication access, but the belief that your students matter and have so much more inside than what we can see on the outside.



ID: Black-and-white photo of Jakob Jordan, a nonspeaking AAC user, smiling beside his quote: "Your strong belief in my ability to say so much more than what you see is the most life giving gift i have ever experienced. Giving every human a sense of purpose in the world is life changing."