Communication Corner – July is Disability Pride Month
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.