AAC Bill of Rights

Many years ago (in 2012) I adapted the 1992 Communication Bill of Rights by the National Joint Commission (NJC) to recenter it from AAC professionals to AAC users.  This included simplifying the language, lowering the reading level, and adding symbols by means of illustration (not as symbolated text, there was only one symbol per sentence, in keeping with Easy Read/Plan Language Guidelines).  In 2016 the NJC released an updated version of their Communication Bill of Rights, adding three social focused rights to the list, increasing the reading level and complexity and maintaining its focus on clinicians.  Soon after I released another accessible version, this time of the 2016 guidelines, again focusing on lowering reading level, decreasing complexity and adding images as illustrations only. 

In 2025 the National Joint Commission updated their Communication Bill of Rights for the third time. This was done at the request of the "NJC Network—a group consisting of family members of people with severe disabilities and professionals—this most recent iteration consolidates and simplifies the wording of the rights so as to make them understandable to all. In a separate guidance document, the NJC provides information about each right. That document also provides strategies and practices for families, caregivers, professionals, and self-advocates as they interact and communicate with persons with severe disabilities (NJC, 2024)."  They moved their focus to families and AAC self-advocates as well as clinicians.  They also combined a number of rights to reduce the list from 15 to 12.

Unfortunately, it does not change the reading level. The Average Reading Level Consensus places the third edition at a grade 11 reading level and its Flesch Reading Ease score is college. This is identical to the 2016 version. Here are the 2025 rights as written by NJC:

Communication 
1. The right to dignity and respect in all interactions.
2. The right to meaningful communication that is culturally and linguistically appropriate.
3. The right to be addressed directly and not be spoken for or talked about as if not there. 4. The right to receive a response to all communication, even when the desired outcome is not possible.
5. The right to participate across settings as full communication partners.
6. The right to interact socially and to build and keep relationships.
7. The right to be given—and to understand—information about objects, actions, events, and people.
8. The right to ask for or refuse objects, actions, events, and people.
9. The right to express preferences and feelings, make comments, and share opinions.
10. The right to make choices from meaningful options.
11. The right to access services and supports for communication across the lifespan.
12. The right to individualized, working augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and other assistive technology (AT) at all times.

In the past I have rewritten the rights to being them to a grade 3 reading level. This is important because 54% of American read at or below a grade six level and 20% read below a grade three level .  Below you will find the 2025 Communication Bill of Rights from the National Joint Commission adapted to be at a grade 3 reading level.

Accessible AAC Bill of Rights
1. I have the right to be treated with respect.
2. I have the right to communicate in my own way and understand what is said to me.
3. I have the right to be talked to directly.
4. I have the right to be heard and answered.
5. I have the right to join in all the time.
6. I have the right to make, talk to and keep friends.
7. I have the right to know about who is around me and what is happening.
8. I have the right to ask for things and say 'no.'
9. I have the right to say what I feel and think.
10. I have the right to make real choices.
11. I have the right to learn how to communicate and get help with it.
12. I have the right to have and use my AAC at all times.

This version of the Communication Bill of Rights is ideal for use in individual, small group and classroom lessons.  Such lessons can focus on rights and advocacy specifically or it can be embedded into other lessons such as the Magna Carta, the American Constitution or similar from other countries, various rights movements and history months.  

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