Communication First

“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.”

Revolutionary — The 19th 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.

“Within five minutes of meeting, we were having a conversation. It wasn’t about the state of world politics — as Bex says, she’d like to have more complex discussions but she restricts herself because of the time and effort involved — but we chatted a bit. ‘Trying to get people to learn the system has been a six-year battle,’ she says. ‘People don’t necessarily sympathise because they have absolutely no idea what it feels like to want to say something but you can’t.’”

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/life-with-locked-in-syndrome-despite-eveything-you-are-alive-ggnpmsdjt?shem=rimspwouoe,

Life with locked-in syndrome: ‘Despite everything, you are alive’ Matt Rudd has remarkable conversations with three Britons who, after life-changing accidents, have fully active minds but cannot move or speak, and can communicate only via the blink of an eye

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 communication rights and access: lnkfi.re/c1shp.

[Image 1: A grandfather wearing a CommunicationFIRST shirt bends down on one knee and holds his granddaughter who is a toddler with a CommunicationFIRST button in her hand. The two of them are in a yard with lush trees.

Image 2: A young AAC user sits with his AAC device mounted in front of him, and he happily waves. His smiling dad squats down beside him. The pair wear CommunicationFIRST shirts and pose in front of windows letting in natural light.]

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

📸: photo from DJ Reinhardt

[Image: A person sits in a powerchair with an AAC device in front of them, looking up at a teenager who looks back at them.