Beyond the Label

10/20/2026

📚👻 Not Your Traditional Book Club!

This week, we’re bringing the monsters out for More Choices for Voices Book Club, and guess who’s reading?

🚒 Our Fire Chief!

We’re reading I Need My Monster, and honestly, we can’t think of a better guest to help us welcome a few monsters into the library!

But here’s something you might not know about our book club.

It’s not really just about books.

Sure, we learn about AAC, nonverbal communication, and all the different ways we share our voices.

But we also learn about each other.

What makes us laugh. What we love. What matters to someone else. And sometimes, we make a new friend we never would have met otherwise, like our Fire Chief!

We choose children’s books on purpose. We do!

Because whether you’re 5 or 95, who doesn’t love an excuse to escape into a story, use a little imagination, and remember what being a kid feels like?

Some of us are still kids. The rest of us used to be.

We’re all different. Disability or not. That’s just being human.

So consider this your invitation to our little club of humanity.

All ages. All abilities. All personalities. And this week, maybe a monster or two. 👀

The books bring us together. The people give us a reason to come back.

❤️ More Choices for Voices Book Club (See you Wednesday and YES wear your costumes! We can’t wait!)

10/17/2026

😂 Dad always gets the last word.

Or in this case, the last button.

Mom sent them to demonstrate AAC. Dad had his own agenda. 🤣

10/16/2026

💙 GET TO KNOW JOSEPH | What I Love

Bowling? 🎳 YES.

Going out to eat? 🍔 Absolutely.

Dancing? 🕺 You know it.

Hanging out with my friends and family? Even better.

I love being around people.

But I think what I really love most is connection.

I like having those little things that are just ours, a special saying, a routine, an inside joke, or something I do just to make someone smile.

Those moments might seem small.

To me, they’re BIG.

Because sometimes belonging looks a lot like laughing together over something nobody else quite understands. 💙

It’s Friday Guys! Your turn: bowling, dancing, or dinner out? So which one are you picking? ⬇️

10/14/2026

This is what Better Together is all about! ❤️

Different people, different needs, different ways of experiencing the world, and a community that shows up for one another!

We’re excited to support SPARK and help bring the Sensory Room to life! We love the possibilities of new friendships, new opportunities, and all the wonderful things that can happen when people come together!

Because when we’ve got each other’s backs, pretty amazing things can happen!

✨❤️Better Together. We’ve got your back! ❤️✨

We are beyond excited to be partnering with Beyond the Label for our new SPARK program starting in January. ❤️

Beyond the Label will be sponsoring our Sensory Room, creating a special space for our amazing adults with disabilities to enjoy.

From the very beginning, they have been by our side, cheering us on and supporting our dream of bringing this program to life.

It’s partnerships like these that make our community stronger and remind us what amazing things can happen when we come together for others.

Thank you, Beyond the Label, for believing in SPARK and helping us create a place where everyone can feel included, make friends, and just be themselves!

We can’t wait to see all the smiles and memories this program will bring! ❤️

10/13/2026

An Invitation.

There’s a club that’s been around for as long as anyone can remember.

Nobody started it. Nobody owns it.

There are no meetings, no dues, and definitely no dress code.

The members? Well, they’re a pretty interesting bunch.

Some are loud. Some are quiet. Some have a lot to say without ever saying a word.

They have different opinions, different abilities, different needs, and very different ideas about what makes a good pizza.

They don’t always agree. They don’t always get along. And they certainly don’t all do things the same way.

But somehow, they all belong.

We thought you might like to join.

Turns out, we don’t actually need to invite you.

You’ve been a member all along.

Welcome to The Just Us Club.

P.S. Whatever works. That’s kind of the point. 🖤

10/10/2026

Dear Society,

We heard you gave us a label.

We just never thought to wear it.

You see, we don’t really think of ourselves as disabled.

We think of ourselves as us.

We have things we love, things we can’t stand, things that make us laugh, things that make us uncomfortable, and things we absolutely refuse to eat.

Don’t you?

Some of us hear things better than we see them. Some of us need to touch something to understand it. Some of us communicate with words, pictures, technology, movement, or sounds.

Some of us use a little bit of everything.

We have senses for a reason. They’re how we explore the world, and we each figure out which ones work best for us.

We all have needs. We all have preferences. We all have our own ways of finding comfort, happiness, and connection.

Support helps us get there. Support is a good thing. It means someone’s got your back. We all appreciate that right?

And somewhere along the way, somebody decided that made us different.

Well, here’s what we’ve figured out.

Different isn’t the exception. It’s the rule.

Nobody experiences life exactly the same way.

So why are we spending so much time trying to make everyone fit the same mold?

We only get one life.

We’re going to spend ours finding what works, making choices, trying new things, loving what we love, and enjoying every opportunity we can.

We’re not pretending challenges don’t exist.

We’re just not letting them introduce us.

You can call us disabled, typical, special, different, or whatever else helps you organize the world.

But when we look at each other, we don’t see any of that.

We see people.

We see family.

We see friends.

We see us.

And when we look at you?

We see one of us, too.

Sincerely,

The Just Us Club

P.S. Whatever works. That’s kind of the point.

10/09/2026

🐾💙 EVERYBODY, MEET BARRY! 💙🐾

We are SO excited to introduce you to our newest friend and Beyondthelabel Better Together Ambassador, Barry Blue Eyez! 🐶💙

Barry is a big, fluffy, lovable Old English Sheepdog with a HUGE personality, an even BIGGER heart, and a whole lot to say!

Oh, and did we mention Barry is deaf? 💙

He’s also a service dog, a professional cuddler, a snow-loving adventurer, and quite the communicator!

And that’s one of the many reasons we think Barry and Beyondthelabel are going to make such great friends!

Because Barry reminds us that having a voice doesn’t always mean making a sound!

And boy, does Barry know how to communicate! 😂

🧀 Craving cheese? There’s a button for that!

🥓 Bacon, please! Yep, another button!

💧 Thirsty? Push the water button!

🦴 Treats? Of course there’s a button for those!

🔔 Ready to go outside? Ring the bells! Barry even has separate bells for going outside and heading onto the decks.

💡 Bedtime? He’s got a button for that too!

But our FAVORITE?

When Barry wants to play chase, he sneaks up behind his family and gives them a big ol’ BOOP with his nose! 😂

Translation: TAG! YOU’RE IT! 🏃🐾

Barry communicates with buttons, bells, body language, and a whole lot of personality.

And we can’t wait for you to get to know him!

Throughout our Better Together adventures, we’ll be sharing more about Barry, his favorite things, his incredible journey, and all the ways he reminds us that communication comes in many forms.

October is AAC Awareness Month, and we couldn’t think of a more wonderful time to welcome our new friend!

Because at Beyondthelabel, we believe everyone deserves to be heard, understood, and celebrated exactly as they are.

🐾 MORE CHOICES FOR VOICES!
💙 BETTER TOGETHER!

👇 NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

Barry already has buttons for cheese, bacon, water, treats, and bedtime.

If you could give Barry ONE more button, what would it say?

🥓 MORE BACON!
🚗 ROAD TRIP!
❄️ LET IT SNOW!
❤️ CUDDLE ME!

Drop your vote below and help us welcome Barry to the Beyondthelabel family! 💙🐾

DeafDogs EveryVoiceMatters

10/06/2026

Congratulations, Camp Connect for AAC

We are so excited to see you receive a grant from the Yavapai County Community Foundation! Your commitment to creating connection, and meaningful opportunities for individuals and families in our community makes such a difference.

We are grateful to work alongside organizations like yours that continue to show what is possible when a community comes together to support one another.

So well deserved congratulations from all of us at Beyondthelabel! 💙

Camp Connect for AAC has been supported by a Community Grant from the Yavapai County Community Foundation! We received funds to increase our accessible pathway and purchase some assistive technology for Camp 2027!