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Communication Access: Guidelines and Resources on Communicating with People who have Communication Disabilities

Free Booklet available in English and French

Written by Barbara Collier, for ACCPC with funding from The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, this booklet is intended to inform businesses and organizations about providing accessible goods and services to people who have communication disabilities, and may be a useful resource in complying with the customer service standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA).

We are grateful to the following people who contributed photographs for the booklet: Jessie Weber, Andrew Bloomfield, Rebecca Beayni, Janoy Alliman, Aaron Shelbourne, Everett Nichol, Rob Chamberland, Jody Schloss and John Draper.

In addition, we thank Kelly MacKenzie, Aura Kagan, Shelley Deegan, Cathy Proll and Elizabeth Bloomfield for their input on specific sections.

Topics in the booklet:

The Right to Communicate
Communication Disabilities
Communicating in Different Ways
Communication Barriers
General Tips for Providing Communication Access
Communicating with a Person who has a Communication Disability

• if the person uses a communication board or book
• if the person uses a speech generating device
• if the person’s speech is unclear
• if the person is having difficulty understanding speech
• if the person is deaf or has a hearing loss
• if the person is deaf and blind
• if the person uses a communication assistant

Special Situations

• communicating over the telephone
• written communication
• making text materials accessible
• decision-making and consent
• obtaining signatures
• privacy

Communicating in Essential and Emergency Situations
Checklist for Communication Access
Resources and Organizations

To obtain an electronic copy, please go to:

www.mcss.gov.on.ca

Direct link to Communication Access Booklet (PDF*)

To obtain a print copy, contact Service Ontario

www.ServiceOntario.ca

1-800-668-9938

For more information contact The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario.

Resources

Communication Access

Counseling Services

Sexual health Educators

Disability Organizations

Families

Health Care Professionals

Justice System

Volunteer Services

Fact Sheet (PDF*)

Access for People who use AAC

Guidelines for Businesses and Services (Coming Soon!)

Contact accpc@sympatico.ca for more information.

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