May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month for my professional association, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
It is a great month to celebrate! Have you ever thought of communication as a right? From the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights it says,
“Communication is the most fundamental of human capacities. People need to be able to communicate to fulfill their social, educational, emotional and vocational potential.”
Barriers to communication impair an individual’s ability to …
1. Relate to and interact with others,
2. Understand,
3. Learn, share and apply knowledge,
4. Achieve and maintain good physical and mental health,
5. Participate appropriately and safely in purposful occupations and/or leisure activities, and
6. Have fair access to the justice system and other public services.
The opportunity to communicate is a basic human right. Everyone has the potential to communicate!”
Whether communication is hampered by a speech, language or voice disorder, lacking for fear of speaking, or limited for any number of reasons, let’s work to make it better for all persons!