EPISODE 38
Nonspeakers and Human Rights: A Discussion with Jordyn Zimmerman and Tauna Szymanski
Nonspeakers and Human Rights: A Discussion with Jordyn Zimmerman and Tauna Szymanski
Play the Episode…
…and Continue the Discussion
Do you have a book or podcast club? If so, you may use this discussion guide to facilitate a conversation about this episode.
1) What did Jordyn share about her school experiences that was most striking to you? What did she it was like not being able to share her thoughts and feelings before you learned to communicate through AAC? Did her experiences resonate with those of any child or children you know, and if so, did it make you rethink your understanding of that child?
2) When Jordyn started communicating through AAC, how did she say that changed her life? How did others change in their actions and understanding of who she was as a person?
3) There are some professionals who have challenged the authenticity of communication of non-speakers. How do both Jordyn and Tauna deal with such “push-back”, and why does Tauna and CommunicationFirst see this as a human rights violation?
4) Did this podcast change your understandings of issues facing nonspeakers, and if so, how so? What changes will you make in what you do as a service provider as a parent, or neurodivergent individual?
Featuring
JORDYN ZIMMERMAN
Jordyn Zimmerman is a graduate student of education at Boston College studying Curriculum and Instruction. Before graduate school she completed her bachelor’s degree in Education Policy at Ohio University, where she founded an inclusive collegiate cheer team called Ohio University Sparkles. As a nonspeaking autistic student who was denied access to effective augmentative communication until she was 18, Jordyn has personal experience challenging the educational status quo, an experience that is featured in the 2021 documentary, This Is Not About Me.
TAUNA SZYMANSKI
Tauna Szymanski, JD, MPA, is the Executive Director and Legal Director of CommunicationFIRST, the only civil rights organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights and interests of the estimated 5 million people in the United States who cannot rely on speech to be understood. Before joining CommunicationFIRST in 2019, she spent more than a decade practicing at a multinational law firm in London and Washington, DC, representing clients in high-profile environmental and climate change-related cases. While in private practice, her pro bono and volunteer work focused on disability rights and inclusive education. Ms. Szymanski received her JD (law degree) from Stanford Law School with MA and Undergrad degrees from Princeton and Carleton College. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Disability Rights Bar Association. She is multiply disabled, and expresses herself most effectively by typing, though is usually able to communicate using speech.
Show Notes
Barry and Dave discuss human rights issues with their guests, Jordyn Zimmerman and Tauna Szymanski, from both a personal and policy perspective. Jordyn Zimmerman is a nonspeaking autistic woman who was denied access to an effective AAC system well into her teen years. She experienced misunderstandings, discrimination, and psychological abuse as she was not able to communicate her sense of self, her opinions, and her basic needs. She is now a passionate advocate for non-speaking people, and their right to have access to effective AAC. Tauna Szymanski, a lawyer with disabilities, discusses the mission of CommunicationFirst, and organization she co-founded, as protecting and assuring the rights non-speaking people to have access to effective AAC, and directions that must be taken to recognize communication as a human right for people with developmental and acquired conditions that limit speech development.