Episode 3: Words Are Powerful GUEST: Jourdan Saunders, MS, CCC-SLP, Founder of The Resource Key https://media.blubrry.com/incluse_this/content.blubrry.com/incluse_this/Incluse_This_S1_E3_Words_Are_Powerful.mp3 How powerful are the words we use? What effect do words have on how we interpret information? In this episode, host Sarah Kirwan and guest Jourdan Saunders, have a down-to-earth conversation about words, words, and more words. Listeners will walk away with a better understanding of how powerful words are, within the framework of disability, woke capitalism, relationships, plain language, getting comfortable in our conversations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and much more. QUICK LINKS As language, perceptions and social mores change at a seemingly faster and faster rate, it is becoming increasingly difficult for communicators to figure out how to refer to people with disabilities. This style guide, developed by the National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University, is intended to help. It covers almost 200 words and terms commonly used when referring to disability. OUR GUEST: Jourdan Saunders, MS, CCC-SLP Jourdan Saunders, MS, CCC-SLP is a Speech Language Pathologist, Disability Inclusion Consultant, Author, and Resource Generator. She develops solutions to ensure people with disabilities are included and are making meaningful connections with brands. Jourdan is the founder of The Resource Key providing consulting services using innovative approaches, research based industry resources, and advising companies to ensure People with Disabilities are included, and making meaningful connections with brands. She is the owner of one of the largest SLP resources group with over 15,000 followers. Jourdan has written several articles for non-profit organizations, major magazines, and online resources. Her work has been featured in USA Gymnastics, American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), MarketWatch, Association of University Centers on Disability, and Kennedy Center. TRANSCRIPT Hi, and welcome to Incluse This! This I'm your host, Sarah Kirwan. And this is a movement for disability equity. Today, we're talking with Jourdan Saunders, and we're talking about how powerful words are. Jourdan Saunders is a speech language pathologist, a disability inclusion consultant, author, and resource generator. She is the founder of The Resource Key, a business providing consulting services that use innovative approaches, research-based industry resources, and advising companies to ensure people with disabilities are included. And also making meaningful connections with brands. She's the owner of one of the largest resources group with more than 15,000 followers. Jourdan has written several articles for nonprofit magazines, and organizations, and online resources. Her work has been featured in USA Gymnastics, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, MarketWatch, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, and The Kennedy Center. Jourdan established one of the first resource websites for students interested in the field of speech language pathology, Future SLPs, which has received recognition worldwide. Recently, she created a program that infuses art and reading literacy skills entitled Design Read Create. Jourdan is the author of Our Reading Literacy Kitchen: Fresh Approaches to Target Reading Literacy Skills. And with that, let's dive in. Welcome to Incluse This! Jourdan. I am super thrilled to be here with you today talking about words, words, and more words. Thank you so much for having me, Sarah. I am honored to be here with you on this podcast. And words can be used in a positive way or a negative way. So you and I met virtually last September, and I remember exactly why I got ahold of you. Because I all of a sudden got pretty active on LinkedIn, and I wanted to see who was posting in the disability, equity, and inclusion space.