When ‘States’ Rights’ Threaten Disability Protections for Our Kids
Parents of kids with disabilities, especially those with non-speaking, minimally speaking, or unreliably speaking children, need to pay close attention to a federal lawsuit making waves right now. It’s about a rule change to the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and while the surface issue is the inclusion of gender dysphoria as […]
Building Bridges: Stone’s Journey from Student to Advocate
Sometimes, life takes you in a direction you never imagined. And in those moments, you realize just how much is possible. This past fall, Stone and I participated in a webinar hosted by the Northwest Augmentative Communication Society titled “Thoughtful Inquiry: Spelling for Communication.” Its purpose was to give SLPs an opportunity to hear directly […]
Reframing the Narrative: Why It’s Time to Evolve “Spelling” into ACC and CC-ers
As we’ve walked this journey, it’s become clear that the term “Spelling” falls short of fully capturing what this process is all about. It doesn’t address the depth of cognitive capability or the remarkable autonomy that non-speakers like Stone demonstrate.
Unleashing Independence: The Parallel Between Guide Dogs and Communication Regulation Partners (CRPs)
There was a time when guide dogs were misunderstood. Imagine this: a blind person walking confidently down the street, guided by a loyal, highly trained dog. To most of us, this is a picture of independence. But there was a time when others saw it differently. They questioned whether relying on a dog undermined the […]
