Special Olympics Maryland and ASHA Collaborate on New Initiative That Advocates For Equitable Care For People With Communication Disabilities

(Rockville, MD) Special Olympics Maryland (SOMD) is proud to announce its work with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) on a new campaign that advocates for equitable care for people with communication disabilities in health care settings through improved communication. The timing of this collaboration is especially relevant, as May is recognized as National Speech-Language-Hearing Month.

Called Communication Access, the ASHA initiative champions the message that “Better Health Starts With Effective Communication.” Effective communication access is achieved when everyone can clearly share, receive, and understand information in ways that work best for them. For people with communication disabilities, this means that they have equal opportunity to effectively participate in and benefit from quality health services and programs because the communication supports that they need are in place. More than 46 million people in the United States have a hearing, speech, language, or other communication disorder.

Through the Communication Access initiative, ASHA urges all professionals and staff in health care settings to ask about a person’s communication preferences, strategies, and accommodations before care begins. By ensuring that the information they give and receive is inclusive of people with communication disabilities, everyone can be more engaged in health care interactions—and outcomes can improve. SOMD Athlete and Health Messenger Alexea Wentz has served as a key member of the Communication Access Advisory Group, providing input and guidance in the campaign’s resource development.

SOMD’s inclusive health work ranges from hosting its Healthy Athletes events, which provide free health assessments and screenings, to advocating for better care practices for all patients. SOMD engages current SOMD athletes as Health Messengers to educate and make a grassroots impact on the health and well-being of fellow athletes on and off the field of play. Inclusive health means that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are able to take full advantage of the same health programs and services that are available to people who do not have ID.

Currently, people with ID face significant challenges in accessing high-quality health care and obtaining opportunities that promote fitness and wellness—resulting in pronounced health disparities and reduced life expectancy. SOMD’s health programming aims to improve the physical and social–emotional well-being of people with ID by increasing inclusion in health care, wellness, and health systems for Special Olympics athletes and others with ID—as indicated in the Inclusive Health Principles and Strategies campaign. One way to do this is to make sure that effective communication access occurs in all health-related interactions.

“We know that health professionals want to feel more prepared and comfortable in their interactions with people who have communication disabilities,” explains Adena Dacy, MS, CCC-SLP, who leads the Communication Access initiative for ASHA. “And people with communication disabilities want to feel empowered to take an active role in their health. When these things happen, everyone is more satisfied and understood, and health outcomes improve.”

Dacy continued: “We are so grateful for ASHA’s collaboration with SOMD Health Messenger Alexea Wentz on this initiative. A central goal of ASHA’s work with Communication Access is to seek out and to prioritize the lived experiences and perspectives of people with disabilities in our campaign messaging and resources. Alexea’s voice and feedback in this capacity has been critical to our work.”

As a part of the ASHA–SOMD collaboration, Wentz has written a blog about her experiences in the health field and what it has been like to work with ASHA’s Communication Access Advisory Group.

“As a Health Messenger, getting opportunities to work with current and future health care workers and volunteering for things like the ASHA advisory group has been so impactful and empowering. I love sharing my ideas and learning about others’ experiences in the health care world. I am so glad I was given the opportunity to speak about my experiences in the advisory group and help promote better communication in health care settings. I want to see communication get better, so everyone has the opportunity to understand everything going on at a doctor’s appointment,” said Wentz.

About Special Olympics Maryland (SOMD)

Special Olympics Maryland (SOMD) is a year-round sports organization dedicated to providing quality sports training and competition opportunities to Maryland’s children and adults with intellectual disabilities and/or closely related development disabilities. SOMD currently provides thousands of sports experiences annually for athletes statewide and offers 27 sports, all at no cost to the athletes or their families. For more information about SOMD, visit www.somd.org or call 410-242-1515.

About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 241,000 members, certificate holders, and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology assistants; and students. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) identify, assess, and treat speech, language, and swallowing disorders.