People with communication support needs experience barriers that limit their social inclusion in society. A community approach such as "communication access" that targets changing attitudes, skills, and resources may assist in facilitating community participation. The authors describe the development of communication access from 2008 in…

To sensitize hearing people to the experience of deafness and to teach them methods of communicating with the hearing impaired, Rochester Institute of Technology and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf planned and delivered a program with the cooperation of merchants at an area shopping center. (SK)

The Greendale (Wisconsin) School District uses sophisticated, two-way communication and marketing strategies to find out community concerns, gain a better understanding of all the groups in the district, create trust, and put constructive criticism to good use. "Relationship" marketing actively seeks out input from both supporters and…

The dangerous communication gap between the university and the public is described. Barriers to effective communication are identified and suggestions are provided for eliminating them. Barriers include failure to perform up to expectations, lack of candor, lack of systematic plan for communication, and persuasion rather than information. (MLW)

A fictional Rhode Island community is used to describe the Local Planning and Assessment Process (LPAP), including technical assistance, and to discuss some of the drawbacks involved in planning and implementing program evaluation and development. The hypothetical situation is based on real experiences of several communities which have used LPAP.…

The Rough Rock Demonstration School special education staff used videotaped vignettes of special education services to communicate with parents and obtain referrals of possibly handicapped children, especially children not in school. The process, involving personal communication and an identification specialist, helped recruit seven children for…