Beyond Disability Etiquette Matters

About the Book

There are many ways to open the door of inclusion. Explore these questions to find out how. What are your words saying? How do you respond to a person who has obvious difference than you? What do you do when physical barriers keep someone who uses a wheelchair from accessing a public facility? What do you do when disabilities are not obvious? How do you give assistance to a person with a disability? These are just some questions to raise your awareness of the many facets of disability! Have you ever been in a situation when you just didn’t know what to do or say when interacting with a person who has an obvious disability and feel awkward? Let us show you how you can become more sensitive, knowing, and accepting of people with disabilities as we demonstrate through the stories and activities in Beyond Disability Etiquette Matters how to breakdown attitudinal barriers, and how to interact with people with disabilities in an inclusive way. You will discover how to use appropriate language, how to offer assistance, the myths and facts about perceptions about people with disabilities, the ten commandments of communicating, and how to focus on the person rather than the disability. Are you willing to promote change and omit attitudinal barriers, which will make you more confident and accepting of obvious differences? With the contents of this workbook, it will help you learn ways on how to understand meanings of words and implications. We will never be politically correct all the time, but with effort and willingness to learn, barriers can be broken! Ellen Shackelford and Marguerite Edmonds are two people with a great deal of personal experience and passion about educating the public regarding disability matters. Sign up for their newsletter at www.cacsllc.info.

About the Author

Ellen L. Shackelford, author As a person who has sustained a disability through injury, Ellen Shackelford is well aware of the many challenges people with disabilities face daily. She also knows people with disabilities are often overlooked in social situations and activities. As founder and president of Connections Access Consulting Services LLC, she is dedicated to a service that will enhance the awareness and unconscious injustice of the aging population and citizens with disabilities so all will be included in social situations. Marguerite Edmonds, coauthor Marguerite Edmonds is a person who has sustained multiple disabilities as a result of a major stroke. She too is aware of the many challenges people with disabilities face daily and is dedicated to sharing information to educate society on those matters. She is the training and education coordinator of Connections Access Consulting Services, where she consults regularly with executives from a variety of fields to help create synergistic solutions to world-impacting problems in the disability arena.