Communication Rights

An image for Nick Barry, nonspeaker who uses rapid prompting method or rpm to communicate. A person is looking at a screen and behind them are a ton of eyes staring at the screen. The image depicts how a nonspeaker autistic with autism is often denied access to privacy and autonomy.

The Right to Privacy for Nonspeaking Autistics

Nick Barry, a young nonspeaking advocate, writes about how the privacy and autonomy of nonspeakers is often violated by those around them, how it feels, and how to do better.

Countdown towards a ban of all forms of conversion therapy

From today we will will start counting the days until all forms of conversion therapies are banned in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our hope is that this page will only need to be appended a few times with further activities to remind the government of its commitment to banning conversion practices and of its commitment to human rights, including all the rights articulated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which our government has ratified in 2008.

Include all Conversion Therapies in Legislative Ban

In a submission to the Justice Select Committee, members from New Zealand autistic community groups say while they fully supported a ban on conversion practices targeting sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, protections should be extended to include all New Zealanders subject to these practices, especially neuro-diverse communities among whom conversion therapies also cause considerable harm.

The Autistics’ Question

Tejas Rao Sankar challenges schools and society to invest in the autonomy of autistic people and not to deny nonspeakers the right to participate in the IEP process.

an RPM rapid prompting method letterboard stencil is in a tree with sunlight shining through the letters. Photo credit by autistic advocate matthew rushin.

Tiny Typing Kids: A letter to young nonspeakers

Trevor Byrd is a teen nonspeaker who gained access to communication when he enrolled at Reach Every Voice. After seeing a young girl spelling on a letterboard, he wrote this letter to all the young spellers.

This image is for nonspeaking autistic author Ben Breaux's review of the film, The Reason I jump. The image features six photos from the film of the different autistic characters in the movie

REVIEW: The Reason I Jump – An Unusual Film With a Very Important Message

Ben Breaux, nonspeaking autistic advocate and author, reviewed the award-winning film, The Reason I Jump, an adaptation of Naoki Higashida’s best-selling memoir of the same title. Breaux interviewed several members of the cast and crew to pen this critically-important and profoundly-insightful analysis of the film.

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