#End Communication Discrimination Campaign

I-ASC’s Spellers and Allies Advocacy Network is excited to kick off our newest initiative – #EndCommunicationDiscrimination. It is a nonspeaker-led campaign to increase public awareness about the issues that spellers face in schools, employment, health care, and the justice system.

We aim to bring change for nonspeakers in each of these areas. We will attain our goals by winning the hearts and minds of the general public and by convincing thought leaders, ally organizations, and policymakers to give us a seat at the table on all issues that affect us.

We are getting started by launching a social media campaign to express our gratitude and highlight organizations that have supported spellers and their method of communication. We also want to reach out to organizations and thought leaders in need of education about nonspeakers and our communication needs

Here’s how it works!
When you are given an #EndCommunicationDiscrimination letterboard, this is what we need you to do:

Step #1: Decide which organization(s) you are planning to thank for their support and which ones you feel need education about us. 
Take photos of yourself facing the camera while holding our specially designed letterboard with the logo of our #EndCommunicationDiscrimination campaign prominently visible.

We want you to take these photos in front of offices and buildings in your local area that house organizations that you want to celebrate for their demonstrated actions in welcoming the use of letterboards and keyboards by nonspeakers. This is not intended to be used to honor people who are just nice to us. This is for organizations that actively engage in communication with you and accept your method of communication as authentic. For example, you might want to thank your physician who you talk with every visit to tell him how you are feeling and how the medication is working. Or to your favorite waiter at your neighborhood restaurant that you talk to every time you go. The emphasis here is on thanking people you have real conversations with.

In addition, you can also take photos in front of the offices of organizations and thought leaders who would benefit from education about nonspeakers and our communication needs. For example, you might feel that your local pediatric group or disability advocacy group might benefit from learning about nonspeakers.

Step #2: Spread the word!
Send these photos to us at Spellers & Allies (spellers-allies@i-asc.org), and we will post them on the I-ASC social media pages for worldwide dissemination. Distribute your photo on your own social media and your email list with the hashtag #endcommunicationdiscrimination. Ask your friends and family to repost it as well with the hashtag.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Make sure to post your photo with the hashtags for our campaign:
#EndCommunicationDiscrimination
#IASCyoutolisten
#NonspeakingDoesNotEqualNonthinking
#ECD
#CommunicationChoice
#CelebrateCommunicationDiversity

Step #3: Here’s the public awareness and advocacy part!
Send an email to the leaders of the organizations you selected for your photoshoots. We have created 2 email templates for you to thank organizations and to invite an organization to learn more about nonspeaking people. Both email templates are below. They explain our campaign and contain a list of actions that organizations can do to support us. Make sure you include an additional action for the leaders to do when you email them. Here are some ideas of what to request:

Learn more: 

• Attend the next informative webinar presentation by the Spellers & Allies Advocacy Network. You can register for the next presentation here: https://i-asc.org/iasc-event
• Invite me to a meeting either on Zoom or in-person to discuss our concerns about [insert name of organization] on the topic of nonspeaking people. [For example: “I am requesting a meeting with Dr. Smith to discuss the medical school curriculum about nonspeaking autistics.” Or “ I am requesting a meeting with [insert name of disability organization] to discuss the needs of nonspeakers and how we can work together.” ]
• Watch this brief video written by one of our fellow nonspeakers, Gregory Tino.
• Sign up for the monthly newsletter of the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC) (www.i-asc.org)
• Follow the I-ASC on social media: IASCspells; @iasc_spelling

Spread the word and connect us to others

• Post about us on your social media using these hashtags:
  

  #EndCommunicationDiscrimination
  #ECD
  #CommunicationChoice
  #CelebrateCommunicationDiversity

• Connect me to others in our community who you think would be receptive to hearing about us. We would like to meet with smaller groups in person or on Zoom and are also available to give a presentation to larger groups. 

Step #4: Pass the Letterboard on!
Pass the letterboard to another nonspeaking person and ask them to follow these instructions. If you need help finding someone to pass the letterboard on to, let us know (spellers-allies@i-asc.org)

Please try to complete this task within two weeks to keep our movement growing.
If you have any questions, please email us and we would be happy to meet with you. spellers-allies@i-asc.org

When a letterboard is getting passed around your community, please take a turn with it! If the letterboard hasn’t arrived in your community yet, please email us if you are interested in having one sent to you! Contact us at spellers-allies@i-asc.org