Under the Umbrella ND – August 2026 Newsletter

Under the Umbrella ND – July 2026 Newsletter

Umbrella ND is a neurodivergent-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Neurodivergence shows up in more ways than most people realize. However yours shows up, you belong here.

What to Expect in This Issue

This month, we are sharing:

A Note from Our Team
Community Spotlight: Find Your Voice
SASG & Community Journeys: Field Guide 2026
ADA Anniversary Webinar: Disability Comes With Ability
Hey, Jessica! I’m Curious…
Resource We Love: Paid Fiction Markets
Upcoming Event: The Regulation Revolution
Sensory Tip of the Month
Calendar of Events

A Note from Our Team

AJ Locashio, Executive Director

On July 26, the Americans with Disabilities Act turned 36. It’s a law that opened doors (pun intended) that many go through without a second thought: ramps, accessible bathrooms, and the right to ask for accommodations at work. It was won because disabled people organized, testified, and refused to be silenced.

Of course, the work doesn’t stop. We still have much to do. Right now, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) has put out a Strategic Plan that pushes for more institutionalization, including so-called “farmsteads,” and funnels research money toward finding a cause and a cure for autism instead of funding the services autistic people actually need. The plan was written without meaningfully including autistic people, or autistic people of color, in the process. Today, August 20, is the last day to submit a public comment. Read more and submit a comment before the deadline.

Missed today’s deadline, or want to keep pushing after you comment? The IACC will discuss this same plan at their next meeting on Thursday, August 27, starting at 9:00 AM ET. It’s free and open to the public. You can watch live via NIH Videocast, or attend in person in Rockville, MD (advance registration required for in-person attendance). Read more on what the plan says and how to prepare so you know what you’re responding to, whether you’re commenting, watching, or showing up.

For a lot of folks in our community, this is the line between being part of the decisions made about our own lives and being talked about like we’re not in the room.

So yes, we celebrated the ADA last month. And we also remember that advocacy didn’t end in 1990, and it doesn’t end when July is over, either.

This is where “capacibility” comes in. Systems change is not a sprint. It’s not one big push in April or July, one loud month, and then silence. It’s showing up in the ways you can, when you can, for as long as it takes. Sign a comment letter today. Rest tomorrow. Share a resource next week. Ask for help when you need it.

That’s what sustainable advocacy actually looks like.

Advocacy shouldn’t be done alone. Community-supported self-advocacy means we split the weight. Someone drafts the talking points, someone else calls their representative, and another person makes sure the people doing the calling have eaten something today. All of it counts.

We are so glad to be in this community with you.

Community Spotlight: Find Your Voice

This month on the Umbrella ND Community Spotlight, AJ sat down with Tara and Steve, the parents behind Find Your Voice, a communication tool they built together with their daughter, Afton.

It started with frustration. Afton, who is Autistic, would have moments when speech disappeared completely, especially during a shutdown. Tara found printable communication cards online and spent hours laminating a set. Afton took one look and called them “cringe.” They were designed to look cute and childlike, and that wasn’t Afton.

So Afton and her dad Steve, a professional packaging designer, made their own. Afton picked the words. Steve drew simple, bold graphics inspired by road signs and subway wayfinding, systems built to communicate fast and clearly, with no wasted detail. The result was a deck of cards that actually looked like her: a little edgy, a little sassy, completely hers.

What started as 54 laminated cards on a keyring has grown into an app, a printable PDF, and soon, professionally printed decks. Families use it in all kinds of ways. Some keep it on a phone. Some print a set for every person in the house and pin them to a board. One mom told Tara and Steve that her teenage daughter used the “I need the toilet” card at school for the first time ever to use the restroom during the school day.

AJ, who also works as a sexual assault advocate, sees another use: giving someone in crisis cards to express “I need a hug”, “I’m angry”, or “no” when words won’t come. The system isn’t meant to replace a traditional AAC device. It’s something to reach for the moment speech goes offline, whatever the reason, whenever needed, by anyone who needs it.

Find Your Voice is a one-time purchase. No subscription or data collection.

Follow Find Your Voice on Instagram for updates on the printed decks

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications for this video and other Umbrella ND media.

SASG & Community Journeys: Field Guide 2026

The Self-Advocacy Survival Guide (SASG) launched in April as a community-generated resource, built from real listening sessions and real stories, not top-down expert advice. Now we’re building on it.

Community Journeys: Field Guide 2026 is a companion volume, and we’re already collecting community contributions for the 2027 edition. If you have a story, a strategy, or a hard-won lesson about self-advocacy, we want to share it with the community.

Get one or both books

Share your story, resource, or event (can be art, a video, written word, whatever works best for you).

Browse more resources

ADA Anniversary Webinar: Disability Comes With Ability

On July 26, the ADA turned 36. To mark the occasion, Umbrella ND teamed up with Addie Ray for a live webinar titled “Disability Comes With Ability: Entrepreneurship, Financial Freedom, and Policy Traps.”

The ADA gave us a floor, not a ceiling. This session digs into what’s actually on the other side of that door: why asset limits and benefit rules keep disabled people boxed in, how entrepreneurship can be an access strategy rather than a hustle-culture buzzword, why lived experience is a credential and not a favor you do for free, and what real disability inclusion looks like for employers beyond “avoiding a lawsuit.”

Watch the webinar here.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for updates and new videos.

Hey, Jessica. I’m Curious…

“Hey, Jessica. I’m Curious…” is Umbrella ND co-founder Jessica Jahns’ monthly advice column. Every month, Jessica answers real questions from community members: work stuff, relationship stuff, or whatever you’ve been carrying around and haven’t found the right person to ask. Curiosity over judgment, always.

This Month’s Question

I’ve been through five different therapists in the last three years. Every single time, the first few sessions turn into me explaining my diagnosis, explaining what neurodivergent even means, explaining why eye contact is hard for me. By the time all that’s done, the session’s over and I still haven’t gotten to the thing I actually came in for. A couple of them even tried to “work on” getting rid of traits that aren’t a problem for me. I’m exhausted. How do I walk into a first appointment and actually say what I need and what I don’t want, without it turning into another unpaid education session?

Signed, Tired of Teaching My Therapist

Jessica’s Response

Dear Tired, I hear you, and I want to say this first: there is nothing wrong with you for needing to try many therapists before finding one who works for you. Finding the right therapist is a bit like finding the right hairdresser or the right doctor—sometimes you get lucky on the first try, and sometimes you’re out here interviewing half the neighborhood before someone finally gets it right. Either way, that’s not a reflection of your worth or your patience running out. It’s just how it goes sometimes. Now, let’s get you a plan so you don’t do this again.

Start with the people who already know you.

Before you fall down another directory rabbit hole… Continue reading.

Ask Jessica your own question

Resource We Love: Paid Fiction Markets

A lot of our community writes: journals, poetry, short stories, whole worlds nobody else has seen yet. If that’s you, here’s something worth knowing. There are real, paying markets for short fiction, some paying up to $800 per story.

See the list of fiction magazines that pay writers

Writing can be a form of self-advocacy, too. Getting paid for it is definitely a bonus.

Upcoming Event: Reactive to Responsive: The Regulation Revolution

Join us September 9th for a live virtual session on moving from reactive to responsive nervous system states. Ticket and donation proceeds support Umbrella ND’s programs. Scholarships available for those who need them. Reach out to AJ through a call or text: 316-347-1099

Get your ticket or donate to The Regulation Revolution

Sensory Tip of the Month

Your Support Doesn’t Have to Look a Certain Way

A tool only works if you actually use it. If a fidget, a card, a set of headphones, or any other support feels babyish, clinical, or just not you, it’s not for you.

You’re allowed to pick supports that match who you are, not just what’s marketed as “appropriate.” Bold colors, edgy designs, plain, whatever fits.

The right support is the one you’ll actually use!

Calendar of Events

Everything on our calendar between now and the end of August:

Date	Event
August 20	Monthly Newsletter
September 9	Regulation Revolution training begins
September 10	Umbrella ND Board meeting
September 16	Regulation Revolution session 2
September 17	Monthly Newsletter
September 23	Regulation Revolution session 3

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©2026 Umbrella ND (the public-facing name of Umbrella Alliance US Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Our EIN is 92-3293240.