Breaking the Barriers: New Ways of Thinking that Lead to Civic Participation (Pre-Conference Session) 

The purpose of this pre-conference session was to explore the extent to which people with autism, many of whom communicate with Facilitated Communication, were interested in becoming more involved in public policy work, and to begin to explore what system changes were necessary to allow this to occur. The event was an interactive dialogue aimed at exploring the changing perceptions of autism and communication. The pre-conference session was intended to move beyond training and research to support FC users to develop a voice nationally in order to influence policy.