The Extra Effort

A few days ago I witnessed a deaf man struggle to communicate with his hearing waitress. He wanted to order and she had him (verbally) repeat himself to her a number of times, ignoring his gestures to the menu. Because the waitress was hearing, and he was deaf, the man was required to put forth the extra effort of understanding the waitress, rather than the waitress putting forth any extra effort. This is the way our society has been built; the waitress was not given the knowledge or tools to effectively communicate with this man, and that is not her fault, nor is it the fault of the deaf man. 

Deaf people live in a hearing world, and are, in order to communicate with hearing people, or people uneducated about the deaf community, forced to go the extra mile to understand a language that is difficult for them to fully comprehend. 

Had the menus been designed to where there were photos for every meal, the waitress and customer could have had an easier time communicating. However, had there been photo menus, the deaf man and his waitress still would have had a difficult time communicating. The waitress chose to ignore his gestures to the menu even without there being photos, and, had it been a photo menu, what's to say she would not have done the same? 


How is this to be resolved? 

• Photo menus need to replace (or at the very least, be accessible) standard, text only, menus. 
• Text needs to be clear, concise, and to the point.
• Wait staff needs to be trained to communicate effectively with their customers, verbally or otherwise. (Even someone who could hear, if they had a speech impediment, would possibly need another way to communicate with the waiter/ress.)

So that's what this project is...

I have had many people ask me what the overall point of this project is, and wanting to know what I hope to accomplish 'at the end of all this.' This project began when my Government teacher said, "Change the world." After that I had a million ideas. I could go to one of the nearby reservations and save a dying language, create a new organization to save animals from being euthanized, help with low self esteem, or do something that hasn't been done before. There are a lot of people out there who will save the animals, or the languages, but how many people may have already thought about how to help those who cannot communicate? They have help, right? Well, yeah, to an extent. They have people to help them live, caretakers, speech, behavior, occupational, and physical therapists, entire teams of people to help them live. I've seen these people working with their clients, I personally have worked with people with disabilities, and one thing that they don't all do to a full extent, is completely integrate them into society. They help, yes, but what good is that if the community itself isn't welcoming? 

So that's what this project is. We will build a new society on the idea that everyone can be a participant, no matter who they are, what they look like, or if they have a disability. We will make the businesses more accessible to people who may have disabilities or different abilities when it comes to communication, choice making; complete synthesis within society.  

Current Project:

We are currently in the process of working with locally owned businesses in the Albuquerque - Santa Fe area to provide photo and braille menus. These menus will not be 'per request,' they shall be out and accessible to all customers.

These menus will benefit both the business and the customers. They will make the business's products more accessible to people with disabilities, elderly people and young children, and those who cannot communicate verbally.

If you or your company are interested in participating in this project, or if you have any questions, please email us at: thecommunicareproject@gmail.com

Who are we?

The Communicare Project strives to integrate people into society and open the doors to communication. We help those who cannot easily communicate or interact with others, to find alternative ways to make their own choices, thereby fully becoming a part of the community in which they live. 

There are other groups allied with The Communicare Project that will focus on specific developmental disabilities; more details to come soon.

For the first of our many projects, we are working with local businesses in the Albuquerque - Santa Fe area to provide photo and braille menus. These menus will make the business accessible to people with disabilities, elderly and young children, as well as people who are not able to communicate verbally.