The Communication Bill of Rights, 3rd Edition: Guidance for Advocacy and Practice to Support Children and Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

The ability to communicate is critical to the development, education, employment, community participation, and integration in society for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Some individuals with IDD present with significant speech and language impairments that impact their ability to communicate, either through speech or other means. Individualized systems of supports and accommodations serve to promote development, interests, and enhance personal well-being (Schlalock et al., 2021). The National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) is an interdisciplinary group representing eight national organizations that interface with communication for persons with IDD, established in 1987. The NJC advocates specifically to ensure that the unique communication needs of individuals with IDD are acknowledged and addressed across the lifespan. The proposed presentation will provide a framework and an overview of the most recent resources developed by the NJC that are available for stakeholders to use to support communication and advocacy. Particular attention will be devoted to detailing the new guidance document for advocacy and practice.

For more than 30 years, the NJC has advocated for communication by developing materials to address issues and concerns about the communication needs of people with IDD. These include training materials, video resources, information about accessing services, intervention issues and practices, and the Communication Bill of Rights. The NJC has disseminated these resources through presentations, papers, books, and a website (www.asha.org/NJC). In 1992, the NJC published the original Communication Bill of Rights (NJC, 1992). It underscored the rights of all individuals to be supported in developing effective communication regardless of their nature or severity of their disability. For example, the original Bill of Rights highlighted an individual’s fundamental right to affect their daily life through communication. This was one of several specific rights that need to be recognized in everyday interactions. In 2016, the NJC produced a revised version, adding three new rights (Brady et al., 2016). Recently, the NJC recognized that the Communication Bill of Rights needed to be revised again to make the concepts accessible to a broader audience and reflective of contemporary understandings of disability. As a result, the NJC focused on using simpler language to describe each right, and consolidated the list of rights, resulting in the Communication Bill of Rights-3^rd Edition (NJC, 2024), which underscores the rights of all individuals to be effective communicators regardless of their age, disability, or its impact. Other features of the 3^rd edition of the Communication Bills of Rights include an emphasis on the need to (a) foster respect for cultural and linguistic differences; (b) support greater inclusiveness for persons across the lifespan; (c) provide more opportunities to engage; and (d) focus on broader acceptance from the community. The new Bill of Rights reflects advances in research and practice as well as the dynamic nature of human rights.

To provide additional guidance for advocacy and practice in upholding communication rights, we developed the Communication Bill of Rights (3rd Edition): Guidance for Advocacy and Practice (NJC, 2025). This document reviews each of the updated 12 rights, explains why each right was included and provides a ‘bottom line’ intended when upholding the right and actions that can be taken to uphold each right across settings. The guidance document can be useful to teams as they reflect on and improve their own practices. It is also helpful when explaining the Bill of Rights to individuals with IDD seeking to understand or advocate for their rights.

The NJC has always stressed that services must be based on the needs of individuals and not on arbitrary criteria such as the age or disability status. No one is too young, too old, or too disabled to benefit from communication supports. Research finds that communication interventions are effective with this population regardless of age and status (e.g., Sevcik et al., 2022; Sevcik & Romski, 2016). These resources, available at no financial cost, can be accessed to assist advocates, family members, and professionals in supporting communication across the lifespan.

 The proposed poster will (a) provide information about the 3^rd edition of the updated Communication Bill of Rights and (b) describe the content of the guidance document and how it can be applied by caregivers and practitioners. Practitioners will learn how to access the 3^rd edition of the Communication Bill of Rights and the guidance document to support advocacy and practice with individuals with severe disabilities.