Inclusive Communication Quotes

At its grandest, political correctness is an attempt to accelerate evolution.

I typically start out almost every speech I give making some kind of joke about me being in a wheelchair.

Is calling English our national language racist? Are we at that point?

Political correctness is a concept invented by hard-rightwing forces to defend their right to be racist, to treat women in a degrading way and to be truly vile about gay people. They invent this idea of people who are politically correct, with a rigid, monstrous attitude to life so they can attack. But we have all had to learn to modify our language. That's all part of being a decent human being.

I do like Christmas. I do understand that there are people who hate it, and there are other religions that resent it. So, I speak to everybody - I try to speak to every kind of minority and majority that cannot escape the steamroller known as Christmas.

When I learned to sign and speak at the same time, the whole world opened up to me. That's the beauty of encouraging kids who are deaf to use whatever it takes to communicate.

I like to really respect the audience and let them come through on answers.

I do a lot of conferences, and I did a campaign with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation called "Just Say Hi." They get celebrities to record little messages about how you start a conversation with someone who has a disability, which is to "Just say hi."

I speak in relatable terms, without too much car lingo, so more and more people can engage with the car world. And I'm not afraid to ask questions on behalf of a whole community of people who want to learn but are afraid they'll be shut down.

I spent my career trying to speak to the broadest possible audience whether it's in print or whether it's in television.

If everything was perfect, it would always be a person-first conversation, but whenever I have the opportunity, I lead with my personality. If they're looking and seeing the disability first or the chair first, I know that I have the ability to change that.

I don't believe in talking down to children. I don't believe in talking down to any certain segment.

To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.

The mere suggestion that not speaking for a day can give you an appreciation of the social isolation that comes with the experience of disability, particularly those whose impairments prohibit them from communicating verbally, is insensitive at best.

Some people have better ideas than others; some are smarter or more experienced or more creative. But everyone should be heard and respected.

Just because you’ve only been alive for fifteen years doesn’t mean you’re less anything except old. That’s all it means. It doesn’t mean you’re less experienced. It doesn’t mean you’re less intelligent. It doesn’t mean you’re less sensitive. It doesn’t mean you take things less seriously. It’s like, these are younger human beings, meaning don’t, because they’re only ten, start thinking that they don’t know what you’re talking about -because they do. Don’t leave people out in the cold, and don’t talk down to people -don’t. It never works out.

I think it's wrong to write in a totally esoteric language when you want to talk about things which interest a multitude of women.

We can't start dividing people up into categories. In the past, France has often committed the error of not speaking to everybody because there was a belief that some countries could be neglected.

Any time one seeks to produce for a larger public one inevitably has to drop material that would only be understood by a particular group.

We are at a time in our country's history that inclusive language is better than exclusive language.

The most stressful and difficult part of steering a large movie is that you are taking on the responsibility of communicating with a very wide audience. You can't ever hide behind the notion of, 'Okay, they just don't get it,' or, 'Certain people just don't get it.' You have to be mindful of the size of your audience, and you have to communicate in a way that lets them in.

I was born deaf. I was raised in a hearing world and in a deaf world at the same time. I can't say that I like one better than I like the other. I like them both. I speak pretty well; I gesture. If I don't understand something, you know, pen and paper, texting. I use it all.

Sexist language, racist language, theistic language - all are typical of the policing languages of mastery, and cannot, do not, permit new knowledge or encourage the mutual exchange of ideas.

I will do everything I can to reach out to everybody.

It's because you alienate half the room talking about sports. Half the crowd will be against you no matter what you say.