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Cody Matsuda

Cody Michael Matsuda was a mixed-race Japanese American and white disability-rights advocate, author, and speaker born on February 15, 1979. After a 1995 suicide attempt led to anoxic brain injury, he became nonspeaking and communicated through American Sign Language, augmentative and alternative communication, writing, vocalizations, facial expression, and gesture. His advocacy addressed presumed competence, communication access, ME/CFS, autism, and medical dismissal, including through his memoir ‘’Voices Beyond Speech’‘.

Early Life and Family

Cody was born in Pasadena as the second of four children of Ellen Matsuda and Greg Matsuda. His siblings were Susie, Pattie, and Joey. Greg was a third-generation Japanese American professor of educational psychology, and Ellen was a white social worker and disability-services advocate.

Cody developed severe, persistent fatigue around age fourteen. He remained academically capable but struggled with school attendance, post-exertional crashes, cognitive fatigue, pain, and social isolation. Medical professionals repeatedly attributed his symptoms to ordinary tiredness or depression, although ME/CFS already had working diagnostic criteria and remained poorly understood and frequently stigmatized.

The 1995 Crisis

In spring 1995, Cody told a physician that he did not want to wake up the next day. The physician dismissed the statement without initiating an emergency psychiatric evaluation. Cody later attempted suicide by overdosing on prescribed fluoxetine.

The overdose was followed by a seizure, cardiac arrest, and anoxic brain injury. Cody survived but developed acquired motor apraxia of speech and post-anoxic epilepsy.

Health, Disability, and Access

Cody lived with ME/CFS, depression, PTSD, autism, acquired motor apraxia of speech, and post-anoxic epilepsy. His autism was diagnosed during young adulthood, approximately 1999–2001.

ME/CFS required pacing and energy conservation. Cody began using a manual wheelchair for longer outings circa 1996–1997 while remaining able to walk shorter distances. By 2033, he used a power wheelchair full-time.

Communication

Before the anoxic injury, Cody communicated primarily through spoken English. After becoming nonspeaking, he used an AAC device and began learning ASL with his family. ASL became his faster and more natural communication method, while AAC remained important when communicating with people who did not sign.

Cody also communicated through writing, facial expression, gesture, intentional vocalizations, and body movement. His inability to produce speech did not impair his intelligence or language comprehension.

Education

After the 1995 crisis, Cody left traditional school and studied through the Matsuda-Davis Homeschool Cooperative with Andy Davis. The program operated from fall 1995 through spring 1997 and built rest, flexible pacing, typing, AAC, and other accommodations into the school day.

Cody and Andy passed the California High School Proficiency Exam in spring 1997. Cody attended Pasadena City College from 1997 through 2000.

Personality

Cody was intelligent, academically capable, direct, and literal. He was socially trusting as a teenager and became increasingly assertive as he developed confidence in his disabled identity and communication methods. His humor was dry, and he used pacing and explicit access boundaries to manage his energy.

Cultural Identity and Heritage

Cody was mixed race and multi-ethnic (fourth-generation Japanese American through Greg and white through Ellen). In his public work, he identified the intersections among his Japanese American, white, mixed-race, queer, autistic, chronically ill, and nonspeaking identities without claiming Deaf identity.

Career

Main article: Cody Matsuda (Career and Legacy)

Cody began writing about medical dismissal, communication access, and presumed incompetence while attending Pasadena City College. He later became a disability-rights advocate, author, and speaker who used AAC and ASL interpreters during public appearances.

His memoir ‘’Voices Beyond Speech’‘ was published circa 2015–2016. It used standard English, ASL-influenced English, and visual material to address communication, chronic illness, medical trauma, autism, and his relationship with Andy. His essay “Invisible Until Inconvenient: CFS, Masculinity, and Medical Dismissal” became one of his best-known works.

Family and Core Relationships

Cody’s family learned ASL after his injury and participated in the homeschool cooperative. His relationships with Ellen and Greg included both extensive support and later conflict over presumed competence and control of his care. His relationship with Pattie remained protective in both directions; in fall 1998, Cody proposed homeschooling and the CHSPE as alternatives after her school environment became unsafe.

Romantic and Significant Relationships

Andy Davis

Main article: Andy Davis and Cody Matsuda

Cody was sixteen and Andy was seventeen when they became close friends in 1995. They began dating that summer. Andy learned ASL after Cody’s injury, and their relationship developed through shared education, disability access, and mutual care. Cody moved into the Davis family home in 1997; they became engaged circa 2002–2003 and married in 2013.

They later collaborated as writers and advocates while maintaining separate areas of focus. By 2033, both used power wheelchairs and worked with support staff rather than treating either partner as the other’s sole caregiver.

Memorable Quotes

“I don’t want to wake up tomorrow.” (Source: Andy Davis and Cody Matsuda; spoken to a physician during the spring 1995 crisis.)

Characters Supporting Characters Living Characters Authors Japanese-American Characters White Characters Mixed Race Characters Mixed Heritage Characters Disabled Characters Mobility Disabilities Wheelchair Users Invisible Disabilities Chronic Illness Characters Neurodivergent Characters Autistic Characters ASL Users LGBTQ+ Characters Matsuda Family