by Marci Revelli, MS, SLP (speech-language pathologist)
reading time: 2 minutes
This is a plain-language summary of a journal article. The article is one of 21 articles in a special issue of the AAC journal (Volume 41, Issue 3, 2025). All the articles are written or co-written by AAC users. The articles are free to read. Plain-language summaries of research are important for accessibility. Providing summaries in plain language helps make complex information easier to read. This helps to better understand and put the research into practice.
Summary of: How Ableism impacts people who use AAC by McLeod (2025)
This article is well worth reading in its entirety. However, if you only have a few minutes, keep reading.
Ableism
The author first describes Ableism. Ableism is a form of oppression like racism, misogyny, and eugenics.
Racism: When a person is excluded, harassed, bullied or humiliated because of their race or ethnicity.
Misogyny: Hatred towards women, based on the belief that they are inferior to men.
Eugenics: The invalid theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding.
Ableism has led to trying to erase disability from society. A big example of this started during the late nineteenth century. “Ugly Laws” barred people with disabilities from being seen in public. The “American Eugenics Movement” tried to end people with disabilities from being born. In 1927, there was a law that allowed people with disabilities to be forcibly sterilized!
Now we have laws that prevent discrimination, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, change is slow. For much of human history, the able-bodied mind and body have been valued. Ableism places a value on people’s bodies, minds, and how they communicate. Ableism compares this value to what society determines is normal, intelligent, desirable, and productive.
It will take time and advocacy to change the perspective of whole societies.
The second part of this article describes how Ableism affects people who use AAC.
People make assumptions about the AAC user’s intelligence or competence.
People are used to communicating orally. Any variation may be unexpected and so unfamiliar as to be “off putting”.
Prejudice of people when their mode of expression is seen as inferior has been called “Speechism”.
Ableism creates an “us versus them” paradigm. Able-bodied people cannot imagine all the ableist experiences that people with disabilities face.
alienation at home or in family life
exclusion from friendships, relationships, partnerships
exclusion from educational or work opportunities
The author suggests a simple but effective solution to confronting Ableism. Always prioritizing the stories and lived experiences of people who use AAC.
Citation:
McLeod, L. (2025). How Ableism impacts people who use AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 41(3), 200–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434618.2025.2489662
Access the full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/07434618.2025.2489662
