Get Over Yourself... We're Only Disabled! Part 23

Get Over Yourself... We're Only Disabled

Hey my lovely readers, hope you are well.

People with disabilities may have unique ways of communicating, respect and encourage this

Many people with disabilities have their own special ways of communicating.  This includes people speaking whether they have a speech and language disorder or not.  Whether they can or can't speak, people will use a wide range of techniques to communicate.  However people communicate, the most important reason of communicating is to allow people to get their message across and have their needs or requirements met. 

Everyone should respect and encourage individuals to express themselves and feel accepted to have their own way of communicating.  Also, people must be able to feel comfortable and understood to be able to say or use their technique of communicating what they think and feel.  If people receive the correct support and encouragement, this will support them to keep on working hard to communicate with others and be proud of the communication skills they have.  This will apply differently to each individual depending on their disability.

People with disabilities will find their own particular way of communicating.  This will require a lot of learning and effort from them, however, the individual will learn easier if they receive support, which could be from a speech therapist.  A speech therapist assesses the individual and everything that supports them to speak; this might involve looking at their mouths, tongue, throat and lungs and working on exercises which will strengthen all of these areas.  The individual will improve from speech therapy and need support and respect to be able to carry on working hard with the therapy.     

Don’t be afraid to speak to someone with a disability because they are just like everyone else but they might respond differently to others.  This doesn't matter; what matters is the person you can connect with behind the disability – it’s all about seeing the person for who they are, not their disability.  Let the person try to do what they can and support them to get the best out of communicating.  

Don't ignore the individual and don't try to discourage them from communicating.  Even if you are struggling to understand what they are saying, don't rush off and get away from the situation, try your best to listen to what they’re saying and have a conversation.  Just in one conversation, you can learn so much about a person.  If you are going to get a drink in a café or are waiting for the bus and you come across someone with a disability, talk to them and give them the encouragement to chat and have a good day.  You might be in their lives for just two minutes but respect them and treat them like you would want to be treated yourself.  This could bring happiness to you or the other person and make people feel positive about themselves.

In my experience, people get nervous when they hear someone with a disability speak; they feel that because they can't understand them, they will just ignore them and might try to baby them.  When I try to speak to someone, sometimes it is really hard for me to get my message across.  This might be because the person has just met me, they haven't seen me for a period of time or there is a lot of background noise but eventually, with me slowing my speech down and really focussing on what I want to say, this really helps the other person understand me.  If this still doesn't work, my final destination is to use a speech aid on my iPad to confirm what I have said.  This normally involves me typing a few words in and the person usually picks up what I’m trying to say.  However, over the years my speech has really improved and I don't really have to rely on my iPad as much.

To wrap this chapter up, be more aware of the capabilities someone with a disability has and just speak to them like you would to anyone else. 

I really hope you have enjoyed this blog. I am shortly coming up to the end of all of the chapters soon, but I might start on the chapters I didn't start on when I first wrote my book.  Thank you for reading my work and always enjoying my writing!

Thank you, 

 Abbie xx