Marrok Sedgwick

[Image: CommunicationFIRST logo and tagline: “Because communication is a human right.” The logo is surrounded by colorful party hats, balloons, confetti, candles, noisemakers, and curly ribbons.]

Our truly amazing supporters and the #AAC community have had our back for SIX years! Help us reach our 6th birthday celebratory fundraising goal by week’s end: lnk.to/pledge. We’ve got $7.2k out of $10k remaining to ensure we can keep fighting for communication #equity.

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Cover of Disabling Intelligences, a dark pink book with orange vines.

Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We are Wrong about AI is now available in physical form! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

The work we do to advocate for people with speech-related #disabilities is more important than ever. To celebrate SIX years of hard work, we want to raise $10k by 10/10, our 6th birthday. Share our birthday #fundraiser far and wide so we can meet our goal! lnk.to/pledge

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We’ve spent the last SIX years advocating for everyone with communication #AccessNeeds, such as those from #autism, #aphasia, & any other #disability. In celebration, we want to raise $10k by 10/10, our 6th birthday. Please join our b-day fundraiser today! lnk.to/pledge

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[Image: Lateef McLeod smiles at the camera. Next to his image it says, “If my research is used to create more opportunities for people who use AAC to have better options for AAC, mentorship, and peer support, then my dissertation will have done its job. Lateef McLeod.” Below Lateef’s name is the CommunicationFIRST logo.]

We interviewed Board member Lateef McLeod about his dissertation on #PeerMentorship for people who need & use #AAC. It confirmed the importance of mentorship by us & for us, & of co-creating mentorship spaces #accessible to people who use a variety of AAC. lnk.to/aacphd

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Help Tuttle get a Service Dog By J M Animal Training and Rescue Inc

Sharing my service dog fundraiser again: givebutter.com/nhEnw1

She's doing incredibly well! It is always enjoyable to get texts about what she's working on and extra fun when I get to have her visit me to work on her getting to know me. I'm really looking forward to having a dog to help out!

Is the reason I’m up so late. They’re not dry yet.

CN bugs
Saw a real life swarm of maggots recently and it made my day (no sarcasm) and once again I’m questioning why I like to look at gross things so much. They were like cute little carnivorous caterpillars but gross which made it even better.

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

TIL there was a theory in like the sixties that some person named Baldwin published that claimed the dinosaurs went extinct because they were all constipated (following plants were outcompeting ferns).

“They did not die from COVID , they had preexisting conditions.”

“They did not die from starvation, they had other health problems.”

This is what eugenics sounds like.

Second freezer?

Pasteurized milk is great! Vaccines are great! Food regulations save lives! It feels weird any of these things are "up for debate". I feel goofy quoting NACHO LIBRE, but I believe in science.

If these kids go to college some TA is gonna cry over how to unteach these things. It was always bad enough trying to convince students that you cannot simply copy-paste and get credit on a writing assignment when I was a TA.

How could I choose between bugs, DnD, and sci-fi though? Impossible.

a bunny holding a spiked morning star by lily seika jones text: we must remain whimsical to survive the horrors of this world

An anonymous person has messaged me with the following message "if you start getting a lot more messages to the Squid Facts Hotline from California area codes: that's my fault. I'm using the Squid Facts t-shirt to chat people up in the gay leather bars of San Francisco. it's working better than I expected it to. i'm sorry." and I reply "UM. Hell. Yeah Hell. yeah." and the first um and hell yeah are in all caps and the second just the first hell in the yeah is all caps for the sake of emphasis

God I fucking love tumblr.

Close up of a black wolf

Wolves are a critical part of the environment. Together with bears they cull the weak the sick and the old from the herds they prey on. Reducing the spread of disease and increasing the health of the herds.

Without wolves, the system falls apart.

For some reason I thought it was about a plant/animal divide (and bacteria are neither) rather than sentience.

A western fence lizard perches on a chain link fence. Behind it is some dirt and golden grass.

In light of these trying times, please enjoy this western fence lizard hanging out on a fence, pun intended by me, maybe not by the lizard, who probably doesn’t know English

a big yellow moth and maroon moth and medium brown moth with cool eyespots look like they're holding hands next to each other. A smaller orange and black moth hangs out below. All standing on a white sheet bathed in blue light.

Happy National Moth Week everybody.

I promise I have nothing against vegan anything (I’m just trying to understand with my very basic understanding of biology) but why is it vegan if it comes from bacteria?

Rich men don’t own teenage beauty pageants for the fashion.

Funding cuts to PBS and NPR, attempts to stop the Wall Street Journal from publishing, Colbert canceled.

Do not take a free press for granted. We need to fight for it.

Lilya has until end of day today to get $600 for June and July's storage fees or all items they own go to auction.

Between medical emergency and a hotel for a medical trip canceling and delaying refund, they are out of money until their next SSI payment.

venmo: @WHolifield
paypal.me/WHolifield

Third time kayaking today. **** I love birds. So pretty and cute and funny. Seeing them from the water is next level cool. Trying to get back to the boat ramp against the wind was a workout, even on the little lake nearby. Good place to learn. Just wish the water wasn’t full of DDT (?!?!)

Context: It’s because they’re magnificent and I have the privilege of being near them (safely and legally, and with lots of training).

I’m out here having weirdly spiritual experiences… *checks notes* …placing subcu fluid lines in large wild animals that are offering to bite my face off for being in their space bubble. Wildlife volunteering rocks.