“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
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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,...