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by Maragaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Ambassador
July is Disability Pride Month, a national celebration of the disability community’s achievements, history, and experiences, and also an acknowledgment of the challenges faced by disabled individuals each day while navigating life and the world. It is relatively new in the United States; the first official observance was July 2015. This commemoration of disability life is integral for society.
This month invites us to be more intentional in the way we consider the roles and achievements of individuals with disabilities. As an AAC user, it is a chance to demonstrate how I am an active global citizen with ideas and capacities to better the world and how I simply need to communicate those thoughts through alternative modes, namely my Accent 1000 communication device. It is also an opportunity to create more awareness about how assistive technology works and the appropriate ways to interact with somebody who is using AAC. For example, I have been turning on my speech more frequently in recent weeks so that people can hear each word as I type my responses into my device. This not only alerts others that I have a sentiment to share and am working on inputting it, but it also gets them accustomed to the time it takes an AAC user to prepare remarks—knowledge that will teach them that, when encountering a user, they need to be patient and wait to see if the person has something to say.
I hope disabled individuals and their support teams take time this month to celebrate and more widely show how they can positively influence the world while using assistive technology and AAC.
If you would like to tell us what you do for disability pride month, please post a comment below.
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Communicators In Action - pride, disability, achievements