Esther Klang - Brooklyn, NY

My name is Esther Klang, a 30-year-old woman who has been quadriplegic for the past 18 years due to a brain stem tumor removal surgery. I also have a speech impairment because I have unreliable and breathy speech due to shallow breathing and vocal cord paralysis. I am fully verbal and cognitively aware, yet society often equates nonvocal with nonverbal and cognitively impaired. I hold a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) and am passionate about ensuring equal digital accessibility and communication for all. I know first-hand the vital importance of communication for autonomy, independence, emotional and mental health, and overall well-being. My personal experience with the lack of independent communication has deeply affected me, and I am determined to prevent others from facing similar hardships that I experiemnc. I intimately understand that communication is vital to one's autonomy, independence, emotional and mental health, and overall well-being. I have personal experience with lacking access to independent communication with the outside world, which affected me more than anyone can imagine. Even though this experience happened to me eight years ago, I am still suffering from many lingering effects. Therefore, I am striving to prevent such hardship from happening to anyone else in the future. The long-term effects of such experiences are profound, and I hope my story helps you understand the urgency of this issue.