Communication Access Now (CAN) is a national campaign to help organizations and service providers communicate more effectively with people who have speech and language disabilities.
Over 440,000 Canadians have speech and language disabilities, not caused by hearing loss.
Communication disabilities may be caused by cerebral palsy, autism, cognitive disability, traumatic brain injury, aphasia after a stroke, dementia, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis or other conditions.
Communication access means that people can:
- Understand what you are saying
- Have you understand their messages
- Use the communication methods that work best for them such as speech, gestures, writing, pointing to objects or pictures, spelling words, typing on a communication device or human assistance
- Read and understand your written information
- Sign your documents and complete forms in ways that are accessible for them
Businesses and organization may need to make changes in how they communicate when providing their services to people with speech and language disabilities.
Click here for the communication access symbol.