“The Best Medicine Is Respect!” Creating a Supportive Healthcare Environment for Nonspeakers

• By: Rosemary Corcoran, MS, OTR/L Hannah Facey, MD Jefferson FAB Center for Complex Care, Thomas Jefferson University Sarah Ackerman Self-Advocate
• July 9th, 2026
• augmentative alternative communication, autism advocacy, healthcare access, healthcare barriers, medical providers, nonspeaking autism, patient communication, presumed competence, Summer 2026 Issue
• 78    0

For around 30% of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), verbal speech is limited, unreliable, or unavailable (Jaswal et al., 2026). Autistic people who are nonspeaking use a variety of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to communicate; this includes picture-based systems,...

Making a Case for the IEP Diploma When It Comes to Employment

• By: Danielle Levine Self-Advocate AHRC New York City
• June 25th, 2021
• actually autistic, advocacy, diploma, discrimination, employment, IEP, IEP diploma, job applications, self-advocacy, Summer 2021 Issue
• 7329    0

I was the girl who was afraid of her own shadow. I was afraid of a lot of things. I was afraid about what people might think. People always doubted me. I was too nervous to speak in front of people. I would never go on stage. I was afraid to do anything. A school social worker once told my...