Disaster preparedness for people with complex communication needs: A personal perspective

June 7, 2007 by David McNaughton

Pamela Kennedy

Any emergency situation, whether it be a flood, a fire, an earthquake, a tornado, ice-storm or the loss of electrical power, puts people with complex communication needs at risk. In this presentation, Pamela Kennedy describes her experiences as an individual with complex communication needs and as a survivor of the Grand Forks flood of 1997. She also describes 7 steps for emergency preparation that are critical for all individuals with complex communication needs.

The contents of this website are a joint offering of Penn State University and the RERC on AAC. They were developed, in part, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90REGE0014) to the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (RERC on AAC). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.