I feel weird about puppies going viral for using AAC while (autistic) nonspeaking folk are deliberately prevented from having access to AAC.

Same for people being happy about animals being taught signing when Deaf/HH folk are actively deprived of learning sign languages.

AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Honestly, it's not even just about access.

Nonspeaking folk have historically been assumed as being incompetent. The idea being that because they couldn't speak it meant that they couldn't think or comprehend language.

And yet we teach animals to communicate...while still maintaining the assumptions that nonspeaking folk can't......and depriving them of the access to do so..........we need to do so much better by them.