My name is Cathy Samuelson, and I am the Executive Director of North Yorkers for
Disabled Persons. I support people who have significant speech disabilities,
and who use communication displays and devices. There is a risk that
consumers can be discriminated against, simply because of how they communicate.
Judgments can be made about their capacity simply because of the way they communicate.
I recently supported a man that was applying for personal support services at home.
He was fully capable of living independently with services,
and just required me to interpret his speech and what he was communicating on his device.
The interviewer determined he was ineligible for no apparent reason, except for what I think was
the interviewer's inability to see beyond how he communicates. This can result
in not only a violation of rights, but people that can't access the services they need to lead
the life they want. I think this resource is valuable, as it will lead to an awareness
that people can communicate in ways other than speech, and be fully capable of making their decisions
and managing their lives, and not be discriminated against, solely
on the basis of how they communicate