59-2 Making Space for People with Communication Disorders in Geoscience Presentation and Teaching

Session: Expanding Neurotypical Borders: Building a Future of Inclusion with Disabled and Neurodivergent Perspectives in Geoscience

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As is true in many other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, geoscience emphasizes public speaking from the classroom to conference hall. Geoscience also encourages interactions that require speaking, such as consistent collaboration and networking, such that it can be difficult to succeed as a student or scientist without engaging in these activities. These expectations do not just present barriers for the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, and non-native English speakers; they also negatively impact people with communication disorders (CDs). Communication disorders that affect a person’s ability to produce speech include aphasia, misarticulations, and spasmodic dysphonia. Other disorders, such as situational mutism, can have similar effects on speech. People with these disorders may be hesitant to speak in social situations due to stigma. They may not pursue speaking-related opportunities for personal and professional growth, and may cause themselves various degrees of distress by engaging despite discomfort. The expectation of polished presentations given in “standard-sounding” speech can put undue stress on people with CDs due to the increased cognitive load of adapting their speech to be more intelligible than is natural for them. Stress may be caused by over-practicing their presentations, adaptively reacting to their own speech to improve fluency, or worrying about negative perceptions from listeners. Therefore, their mental health and/or sense of belonging may suffer over time, but the experience of people with CDs can be improved through acceptance and allowing for full and safe participation in speaking activities. Opportunities to speak should not be eliminated but the expectation of public speaking must be adjusted and accommodated to allow for non-standard speech as well as other forms of communication like text, text-to-speech, and recorded speech. Live captioning is also an accessible option if a speaker is concerned about their understandability. Strict presentation time limits should be reconsidered, specifically for speakers who take longer to present because of CDs, such as those who take frequent pauses, struggle to find their words, or stutter. Full acceptance of people with CDs in geoscience requires good speech-related disability etiquette and welcoming of all types of speech patterns in presentation, lecturing, and social interaction. To create truly anti-ableist geoscience spaces, we must engage with multiple forms of communication and incorporate the concept of disability time into them.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

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