Communication First

“Description amountshare of 3rd party t-shirt sales 1,108”

“Description amountconference costs 6,929membership dues 100registered agent fees 148donation processing fees 431insurance 1,149it and software 2,480charitable registration costs 2,323bank charges 137marketing and promotional 1,671”

“Communicationfirst expanded its scope in 2019 and added paid and volunteer human resources. We created our website and social media profiles to help raise awareness about our mission, vision, and goals, and about our constituents with speech-related disabilities and the barriers they face. We met and began creating partnerships with diverse members and allies, including by joining the national consortium on citizens with disabilities, and attended and presented at national conferences. Our programming on policy and practice reform involved preparing and filing comments on a proposed redefinition of the term intellectual disability in the fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual and by gathering input to inform our national and state-level legislative and policy reform agenda. We applied for grant funding to expand our work, including to improve informed consent practices in health care settings for adults with developmental disabilities who use augmentative and alternative communication. Our direct advocacy work included joining forces with other plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit alleging the widespread unlawful use of restraint and seclusion by a large public school system, and filing an amicus brief with other organizations in a federal appeals court to support the rights of a man with alzheimers who was denied reasonable effective communication accommodations in jail. Communicationfirst also fielded multiple inquiries from members and provided assistance with communication access advocacy-related needs in a variety of contexts.”