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Beyond the Card: When Visual Supports Stop Supporting
Everyone was arriving at once to begin the day. I was putting my things away when I heard someone across the classroom say, "No thank you, friend. We don't throw cards on the floor." I looked over and saw Zachary sitting at a table, dropping cards onto the floor one by one. I walked over and...
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Safety Without Surveillance
One night, I woke up for no obvious reason and found my young daughter near the door. She was getting ready to leave our apartment. My daughter is autistic and does not rely on speech to communicate. At that moment, the danger was not theoretical. If she had reached the street, she might not...
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When AI Functions as an Autism Support
When I was a child, I spent hours with action figures. I was especially obsessed with Dragon Ball Z. I did not simply reenact episodes. The characters developed relationships, conflicts, histories, and entire stories in my head. Scenes continued long after I put the toys away. For years,...
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What Parents Should Know About ASHA’s Position Statement on Spelling Methodologies
Ninth grade was a turning point for my nonverbal daughter with autism. After years in a life skills classroom, she moved into an academic setting. For the first time, she was studying algebra instead of counting money and writing paragraphs instead of discussing the weather each morning. This...
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Training Communication Partners for Nonspeaking Spellers: A Replicable, Evidence-Informed Framework
I have watched my adult nonspeaking, autistic son be offered a letterboard by someone untrained in his primary form of communication: spelling. His thoughts were clear, but the board wasn't properly placed, no relationship had been established, no motor coaching was provided — and nothing came...
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Core Learning Characteristics of Autism and Their Implications in Typing to Communicate
This article bridges the gap between decades of research in the field of autism and the actual cognitive-motor mechanics that define an autistic learning profile. Our objective is to cleanly identify why traditional Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) models often fail: they...
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Advancing the Rights-Based Inclusion of People Who Need and Use AAC: A Guide to Allyship
People often ask CommunicationFIRST for our recommendations for interacting with people who need and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools and supports,1 including nonspeaking autistic people, autistic people who are sometimes able to speak, and people with other...
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More Than Spoken Words: How DSPs Help People Find Their Voice
Everyone has a voice, even if they don't communicate through speech. Expression can take many different forms — from gestures and facial expressions to communication devices, pictures, and written words. When people with developmental disabilities are given the tools, support, and opportunities...
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The Visual Aspect of Increasing Communication Across Disciplines
Speech pathologists and behavior analysts each bring distinct expertise, yet their greatest impact is realized through integrated service delivery. Separately, these two provider groups apply principles unique to their respective science and discipline, but it is together, with support from...
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The Work Before the Work: Lessons From Co-Designing Assistive Technology With Nonspeaking Autistic People
"I still struggle to put into words what it felt like to finally communicate in a personal, voluntary, and unscripted way. I've described it before as a prison door opening, but it was even more profound than that – more freeing, more life-changing." – Lisa, nonspeaking co-author For...
