Each year we celebrate July as Disability Pride Month.  It’s a time to celebrate and advocate for a more inclusive world! What can YOU do to make a difference for someone with communication needs?

• Support access always!
  • Ensure a person’s communication device is always available.
  • Have interpreters available.
  • If you notice someone does not have their preferred means of communication, ask that it be provided.
• Ensure communication devices have advocacy words on them.
  • Support the person in learning the advocacy words and what they mean so they are confident using them.
  • If the person is comfortable with it, learn how to use their device, too.
• Provide multimodal communication.
  • Find new and different ways for communication access.
  • Add supports, rather than replacing or relying on one method.
• Don’t assume; ask what works best for them! Ensure you are putting things in place that the person wants to support communication in every environment.
• Be flexible.
• Wait patiently; sometimes it takes time for communication.

When we work together to meet everyone’s communication needs, we create a world where we can all live a full and meaningful life.