Communication First

06/17/2026

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 Alice Wong: lnk.to/nwacs. Thanks to NWACS for leading this effort!

[Video: Alice Wong with a tracheostomy at her neck connected to a ventilator. Using a speech generating device, she says, "I share this story as an example of the new reality of being a nonspeaking person in a world that privileges speaking & hearing as primary ways of communicating. I'm now in a world where time is slowed down. Conversations I used to have for five minutes, fast, speaking excitedly over each other, laughing, interjecting, snorting would take 30 minutes to type.”]

06/17/2026

Closing institutions is not optional — it’s a human rights obligation.

“We all have the same rights. We all belong in the same place. That place is community. I want a country where everybody lives in the community.” - Valerie Wolbert, MB

Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is pretty clear. People with disabilities have the right to choose where and with whom they live.

Learn more by reading The Right Way: www.institutionwatch.ca/the-right-way/

06/17/2026

Want to watch our Emmy® winning film? is available to stream on PBS Passport, Amazon Prime Video, and Kanopy!

PBS Passport subscribers can watch the film for free, it’s available to rent or purchase through Amazon Prime Video, and select library card holders and university students can access it through Kanopy.

Find more info at rideaheadfilm.com/watchnow

Image Description: An animation of Samuel Habib flying through a skyline in his wheelchair. Text reads “Stream The Ride Ahead” with logos for Prime Video, Kanopy, and PBS Passport.

06/13/2026

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 communication rights. A winner will be randomly chosen on 6/18. https://lnk.to/shpc

📸 Photo credit: The Autistic Teacher

[Image: Mr. C, The Autistic Teacher, wears a green sweatshirt that says, "Speech does not make someone more human." He holds hands with his kid, who wears a purple sweatshirt and noise cancelling headphones. They both smile.]

06/11/2026

“Rook wonders whether he and his fellow activists may have to lie down in front of the Houses of Parliament, as the suffragettes did, to make people realise that this is a human rights issue. Linnell – who suggests that “remembering someone’s name isn’t such a big deal; our memory isn’t who we are” – wants us to cultivate a “deep listening” so that we’re able to respond to people with dementia even when they’ve lost speech.”

Few things are more feared than a dementia diagnosis. Now people living with the condition are fighting against damaging stereotypes and demanding proper medical support

06/09/2026

Congrats to our friends Samuel & Dan Habib on winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary! Watch their film The Ride Ahead 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 Samuel & Dan Habib & co-producer Erica Lupinacci smile while Dan holds up an Emmy statue.]

06/01/2026

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 health care best practices for people with disabilities.

[Image 1: Sam Crane, Michelle A. Meade & discussion moderator Andrew Jager sit on a stage below a screen that says, “American Hospital Association Healthier Together Conference. Stronger Communities. Better Health Outcomes. May 12 - 14, 2026. Dallas.” An audience sits in front of them, & a sign language interpreter stands to the side of the stage.

Image 2: A slide with a collage of words with small icons representing some of them: “Improving Care Experience For People With Disabilities. Healthier Together Conference welcomes Sam Crane, Michelle A. Meade, & Henry Claypool, with Andrew Jager.” The word collage promotes understanding how to support people with disabilities through supported decision making & centering patients’ needs & experiences.]

05/31/2026

So well deserved!

05/29/2026

“For the first 18 years of Zimmerman’s life, professionals assumed she was too intellectually disabled to meaningfully communicate. Access to augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, opened the world to her. Now, she pushes to get people like her access to different forms of communication so they can speak for themselves too.”

As the country marks 250 years, The 19th is centering the women and LGBTQ+ people whose lives and work have challenged this nation to make good on promises it has yet to extend to all.