You are at a new clinic. The receptionist asks how you communicate when you are overwhelmed. The nurse needs to know whether touch should be explained first. The doctor asks what happens when you stop speaking. You have answered these questions before—just not to these people, in this room, while already using most of your capacity to get through the appointment.
The Access Passport exists for that gap.
It gives you a reusable support summary so the useful information can arrive before you have to reconstruct it under pressure. It can say, “Please give me questions in writing,” “I need more processing time,” “Tell me before you touch me,” “I may use AAC,” or “If I become quiet, keep speaking to me directly.”
The short answer
What the Access Passport is—and is not
- It is a voluntary support summary. Use it when it helps.
- It is a communication tool. It can make access needs easier to understand.
- It is person-controlled. The person decides what information they want to carry and share.
- It is not a diagnosis. It does not establish autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, a medical condition, or any other diagnosis.
- It is not an eligibility decision. It does not by itself qualify or disqualify someone for Medicaid, benefits, school services, workplace accommodations, healthcare, housing, or another program.
- It is not permission to ignore the person. Current communication, consent, safety, and the actual situation still matter.
“Here is how to communicate with me and what helps me participate in this setting.”
“This document proves my diagnosis, settles every eligibility rule, or gives another person control over me.”
Why call it a Passport?
A travel passport carries information across borders. The Access Passport carries support information across settings.
The useful part is portability. A person should not have to start at zero every time they enter a clinic, school meeting, workplace conversation, public office, community event, benefits appointment, unfamiliar service, or stressful public interaction.
The Passport can help the next person understand what already works.
It should answer “what helps?” before “what is your label?”
Diagnosis can be medically, educationally, legally, or personally important. But many immediate access decisions do not require a stranger at the front desk to understand your complete diagnostic history.
If the problem is that speech becomes unreliable under stress, the immediate question is what communication method works now.
If the problem is fluorescent light and a loud television in the waiting room, the immediate question is whether the sensory load can be reduced.
Starts with proof
“What exactly were you diagnosed with, and who diagnosed you, before we talk about what you need?”
Starts with access
“I see that written questions and extra processing time help. We can use that while we work through the rest of the appointment.”
You can have an Access Passport before every diagnostic question is settled
You may be formally diagnosed, self-identified, waiting for an evaluation, diagnosed with one condition but still investigating another, or simply know that a specific communication or sensory adjustment helps you function.
The Passport does not need to settle that identity question before it can carry a useful support instruction.
Outside programs may still have documentation rules
A Passport does not erase the eligibility, verification, medical documentation, school, employment, benefits, or legal rules that may apply to a particular service. Use it to communicate access information; use the program’s actual process for anything that requires formal documentation.
The smallest useful Passport may be the best Passport
You do not have to put your entire life on one page.
Add other information only when it helps the setting you are preparing for.
Different settings can use different versions
You may want a healthcare version that includes medication or examination information and a work version that says nothing about your medical history.
You may want an emergency-facing version with a support contact and a routine public version with only communication and sensory preferences.
Privacy improves when information is matched to the purpose instead of treating every interaction as entitled to everything.
Example · minimal public version
A Passport does not have to be complicated
I may use speech, typing, or my phone notes. Please accept the method I am using now.
Ask one question at a time and give me time to answer.
Unexpected touch and several people speaking at once make communication harder.
Keep speaking to me directly. Let me type. Reduce questions and give me a minute.
The Passport can explain a change in communication before someone misreads it
You may speak easily when regulated and need typing later. You may answer quickly in familiar settings and need much more processing time when a room is loud or a decision is important.
A Passport can tell another person that variability is expected.
Do not freeze the person into the Passport
A saved profile describes useful patterns. It is not a script the person must obey.
If the Passport says “I prefer writing” and the person is speaking comfortably today, listen to the person.
If the Passport lists a parent as a support person and the adult says, “I want to speak privately now,” respect the current request.
If the Passport says “do not touch without warning” and the person explicitly agrees to an examination, use the current consent while continuing to communicate clearly.
The Passport should not become a permanent behavior label
“Becomes quiet when overloaded” is useful access information. It should not become “this person is always shutting down.”
“Needs predictable transitions” should not become “cannot tolerate change.”
“May need a support person” should not become “cannot make decisions.”
Write the support need narrowly enough that it helps without turning one situation into a total description of the person.
If this is your Passport
You decide what is useful to carry
You can keep the Passport short, make different versions for different settings, update it when your needs change, and choose when to show it.
You do not have to disclose every diagnosis, trauma, medication, relationship, or private detail just because somebody asked to see your access information.
Ask yourself what the reader needs to know
You can write needs without writing diagnoses
More disclosure than needed
“I have several diagnoses and a long history of sensory problems.”
Access-focused
“Give important instructions in writing. Ask one question at a time. Unexpected touch makes communication harder.”
Sometimes diagnostic information belongs in the document because it matters to the setting and you want it there. The point is choice, not prohibition.
Healthcare may need a more detailed Passport
Medical care can require information that a public-facing Passport does not.
Speech, typing, AAC, interpreter, processing time, or support-person role.
Touch warning, positioning, sensory barriers, pain communication, or procedure preparation.
Relevant medication, allergies, conditions, baseline, emergency information, or health details you choose to include.
Who you want involved and whether you need private discussion.
The Passport should not replace the medical record or the clinician’s assessment. It helps the healthcare team interact with the person more effectively.
A clinician should not use the Passport to explain away a new symptom
If the Passport says “autistic” or describes sensory differences, that does not mean new pain, weakness, dizziness, bleeding, breathing difficulty, loss of function, or another new medical problem is automatically caused by autism.
Use the Passport to improve access to the medical evaluation—not to avoid the evaluation.
At school, the Passport can support a handoff without replacing formal plans
A student or family may use a Passport to summarize communication, sensory, regulation, transition, or support information.
That can make the day easier. It does not replace an IEP, 504 plan, evaluation, health plan, behavior plan, emergency plan, or another formal school process when one applies.
At work, the Passport can explain access without becoming a personnel file
A worker may choose to use part of a Passport to explain written instructions, processing time, sensory needs, predictable communication, or another workplace support.
The employer’s accommodation process still applies where relevant. The Passport itself does not automatically approve or deny an accommodation.
At a public counter, less may be enough
The person at the library, benefits office, courthouse window, pharmacy counter, community event, transportation desk, or retail service point may only need two lines:
A full medical or diagnostic history would not improve that interaction.
During public-safety contact, make the information immediate
A public-safety-facing Passport should lead with information that can change the interaction now: communication method, processing time, touch/startle concerns, support contact if wanted, medical risk that matters, and what helps reduce escalation.
It should be readable quickly.
The Passport does not prevent lawful safety action. It gives the responder access information that may help communication remain workable while the situation is handled.
For travel, think about what can go wrong away from home
Children and young people can participate in their own Passport
A parent may help build the document, but the Passport is more useful when the child’s own preferences and communication are included as much as possible.
A child can help choose icons, phrases, “what helps,” “what hurts,” communication methods, break preferences, touch warnings, and trusted supports.
As the young person grows, the Passport should grow with them instead of freezing a childhood profile into adulthood.
An adult Passport should treat the adult as an adult
Clear visual communication is not the same thing as childish design.
An adult may use pictures, AAC, icons, plain language, or a support person and still expect adult privacy, consent, relationships, work, healthcare, housing, finances, and decision-making to be treated appropriately.
Caregivers can help build the Passport without owning it
A caregiver may know useful history: early warning signs, medication reactions, reliable communication, sensory triggers, what has helped during prior appointments, or how shutdown usually looks.
That information can be valuable. The adult’s current preferences still matter.
“Emergency contact” does not mean “ask them instead of me”
If the Passport includes another person’s contact information, that does not automatically make the contact the decision-maker.
Use the contact for the reason it was provided. Keep addressing the Passport holder directly whenever possible.
Do not require a Passport before providing ordinary access
The Passport is optional. A person who does not have one can still communicate an accommodation or access need.
Do not create a new barrier by saying, “We only provide that if you have an ANCHOR Passport.”
The tool is meant to reduce repeated explanation—not become another credential people must obtain before being heard.
The Passport must never become a disability ID requirement
It is not a state-issued disability card, clinical credential, law-enforcement registry, benefits card, school eligibility document, or proof that somebody is “really autistic.”
Do not use Passport completion as a screening test
How someone fills out a form can reflect language, literacy, executive function, cognitive disability, fatigue, anxiety, culture, technology access, support, or how the questions were written.
A person should not have to complete a perfect profile before anybody helps them communicate.
Do not score how “autistic” somebody looks from the Passport
The Passport is not an autism severity instrument.
Someone may have a very short profile because they only need one accommodation. Another person may have a detailed profile because several systems interact with their needs. Length is not severity.
Do not use one Passport field to make a global assumption
Global assumption
Passport says “support person helpful,” so staff stop asking the adult questions.
Specific use
“Your Passport says a support person can help with medical history. Would you like them involved in this part?”
Privacy starts with choosing what not to put in it
You cannot control every future copy once personal information leaves your hands. Think before adding information you would not want read at a public counter, left on a printer, seen on a phone screen, or included in a routine handoff.
Use the least sensitive version that still solves the access problem.
Showing the Passport does not mean “save everything”
If someone shows you a printed or digital Passport, do not automatically photograph, scan, upload, email, or attach it to a permanent record.
If your organization legitimately needs to retain information, explain what will be retained, where it goes, who can access it, and what rule or purpose requires it when appropriate to the setting.
Do not pass it around the room
A person may show the Passport to the clinician, teacher, supervisor, intake worker, or responder who actually needs the information. That does not turn it into general staff reading material.
Use ordinary privacy discipline: share only with people who need the information for the interaction or authorized purpose.
Update it when it stops describing you
A support that worked last year may be unnecessary now. A medication may change. A new communication method may work better. A contact may no longer be trusted. A workplace Passport may need different wording after a job change.
Review the high-impact parts periodically and whenever something important changes.
Put a date on printed versions
If you print a Passport, add a “last updated” date so another person can ask whether the information is still current.
Old information should trigger a check—not automatic obedience.
If someone shows you an Access Passport
Read it as support information, then keep communicating
The Passport is there to reduce guesswork. It should make it easier to ask the person the right question in the right way—not replace the conversation with paperwork.
Do not reward masking and punish access
A person may look calm while using enormous effort to speak, make eye contact, follow rapid questions, and hide sensory distress.
If they show you a Passport anyway, do not respond, “You seem fine to me.”
The reason for carrying access information is often to prevent the situation from deteriorating before distress becomes obvious.
Do not wait for a meltdown before believing the Passport
“I need a quieter place” is most useful before the person can no longer stay in the room.
“I need questions in writing” is most useful before speech disappears.
“Please tell me before touching” is most useful before the examination begins.
The Passport does not replace effective communication obligations
Federal ADA guidance explains that covered entities may need auxiliary aids or services when necessary to communicate effectively with people who have communication disabilities.
A Passport may help identify what the person uses. It does not mean an organization can refuse a qualified interpreter, accessible electronic document, captioning, or another required communication method because “the Passport should be enough.”
It can make an accommodation request clearer without deciding the request
A Passport may help the person describe the barrier and the adjustment that works.
The workplace, school, healthcare setting, agency, or other organization may still have its own process for formal accommodations or service decisions.
The Passport is not the CARD
The two tools are related but different.
A broader person-controlled summary of communication, sensory, support, appointment, medical/emergency, and access information the person chooses to carry.
A fast visible need-and-response deck for the immediate moment: write it down, wait, quiet place, do not touch, pain, overload, shutdown, water, restroom, support person, and other quick needs.
You may use a CARD to say, “Write it down,” and a Passport to explain the broader communication pattern.
The Passport is not MICA
MICA is a communication system. The Passport summarizes how communication works for you.
You may write in the Passport, “If speech stops, I use MICA,” then open MICA for the actual conversation.
The Passport is not the Resource Map or ARCHIE
The Passport answers, “What helps me access this service?”
The Resource Map and ARCHIE answer, “Where is the service, provider, support, or public resource I need?”
The Passport can support REMI without becoming REMI
REMI is designed around medication, routine, hydration, symptoms, refills, and care tracking. The Passport can carry a concise access summary into an appointment without becoming the detailed daily-care log itself.
Use the right tool for the right amount of information.
One useful system does not need to swallow every other system
The Passport is strongest when it stays a Passport: portable access information controlled by the person.
It should connect to other tools without becoming the CARD deck, AAC system, resource directory, daily planner, medication manager, assessment, clinical record, or benefits database.
Print · copy · use as a drafting sheet
Build a Simple Access Passport
Start with the minimum information another person needs to make an interaction more accessible. Add sensitive information only when the setting makes it useful.
1. This Passport is for
Name / initials / label I want shown:
Last updated:
Setting or purpose:
2. How I communicate
- Speech
- Typing
- Writing
- AAC
- Pointing / visual choices
- Yes / no
- Interpreter / signed language
Best method today: _______________________
3. Processing
- One question at a time
- Give me extra time
- Put important information in writing
- Use direct / concrete wording
- Let me review choices before answering
4. Sensory access
- Lower unnecessary noise
- Lower lighting when possible
- More physical space
- Tell me before touching
- Quieter waiting option
- Other: ________________________
5. What helps
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
6. What makes it harder
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
7. If communication drops
What you may notice: ______________________
Please switch to: _________________________
Please do: _______________________________
Please avoid: _____________________________
8. Support person — optional
Name: ____________________________________
Contact: __________________________________
Role I want them to have: __________________
9. Language access
Preferred spoken/signed language: __________
Preferred written language: _______________
- Interpreter may be needed
- Written translation may be needed
10. Optional setting-specific information
- Healthcare / medication information
- Emergency information
- School support information
- Workplace support information
- Travel information
- Other: ________________________
11. Before I share this version
- Everything here is useful for this setting
- I removed information this reader does not need
- My contacts are current
- My communication information is current
- I know what I want this person to do differently after reading it
A good Passport ends with action
Do not make the reader infer the accommodation from a paragraph of background.
Information only
“I have sensory processing differences and become overwhelmed in medical environments.”
Information + action
“Crowded waiting areas make communication much harder. If possible, let me wait in a quieter area or outside until the room is ready.”
Make “what helps” more specific than “be patient”
Use plain language because the Passport may be read under pressure
The reader may be a clinician running behind, a substitute teacher, a supervisor, an intake worker, a hotel employee, a first responder, or a person who has never heard the disability term you use.
You can still use accurate terms. Put the practical meaning beside them.
Spanish access should not be a one-line translation
If the Passport is intended for Spanish use, translate the support instruction—not only the section heading.
For complex medical, legal, school, or public-service communication, a translated Passport may identify the need but should not be treated as a replacement for a qualified interpreter when one is needed.
Print still matters
A phone can be dead, locked, damaged, without service, or difficult to hand to another person during a stressful interaction.
A paper copy can be useful for appointments, travel, support people, emergency bags, or situations where passing a device back and forth is not practical.
Keep printed copies current and protect them like the personal information they contain.
Digital still matters
A digital Passport can be easier to update, enlarge, read aloud, carry, or integrate into personal planning.
The current ANCHOR Passport requires JavaScript for its interactive MICA/AAC, voice, haptics, and offline-storage features. If those features are important to you, test the device before you depend on it during an appointment or public interaction.
Dayboard can help you prepare when the Passport is part of an appointment
The current ANCHOR Dayboard includes an Access Passport summary alongside appointments, documents, reminders, preparation notes, and follow-up. It labels that Passport summary as voluntary and user-controlled.
That is the right relationship: the daily planner can help you prepare and carry the summary without turning the summary into a diagnosis or eligibility record.
Consent should stay specific
Showing one person your Passport for one interaction should not be interpreted as broad permission for unrelated sharing.
Ask or explain before passing it onward, particularly when the profile contains health, disability, emergency, school, employment, or contact information.
If you no longer want a person involved, update the Passport
Support relationships change. A parent, partner, case worker, friend, advocate, or emergency contact may no longer be the person you want called.
Do not let an old printed profile preserve access for somebody you no longer authorize or trust.
If the Passport is wrong, say so
The reader should follow the current person and current lawful situation—not insist that the old page must be right because it looks official.
Organizations should train staff not to overread it
Five things staff should understand
- The Passport is an access summary, not a diagnostic certificate.
- The person’s current communication matters.
- Use only the information relevant to the interaction.
- Do not automatically copy or distribute the profile.
- The Passport does not replace the organization’s actual accommodation, consent, clinical, eligibility, privacy, or safety responsibilities.
The Passport should make support easier—not create another form people have to manage perfectly
If a person arrives without the latest copy, with only a phone note, or with one line written on paper, respond to the communication that exists.
ANCHOR’s goal is not to create a new paperwork test. It is to reduce repeated retelling and help useful support information survive the move from one setting to another.
Access + communication
Current ANCHOR and accessibility references
- ANCHOR Access PassportThe live ANCHOR Support Passport route. Interactive Passport features currently require JavaScript.
- ANCHOR Arkansas — Support Before CrisisThe current public home page describes the Passport as a way to carry communication preferences, sensory needs, useful supports, emergency information a person chooses to share, and written-first options across interactions.
- ANCHOR DayboardThe current Dayboard includes a voluntary, user-controlled Access Passport summary within appointment and daily planning.
- ADA.gov — Effective Communication RequirementsOfficial federal guidance explaining effective communication and auxiliary aids and services for people with communication disabilities.
Use this page
Build the Passport around the interaction you want to improve
Start with communication, processing, sensory barriers, what helps, and what the reader should do differently. Make a healthcare, school, work, public, travel, or emergency-facing version only when you need one. Then open the live Access Passport to carry the information in the ANCHOR system.
Continue with ANCHOR