A big part of operating a business is letting people know who we are and what we have to offer. Earlier this year we were invited to be interviewed for a podcast by the Down Syndrome Center of Puget Sound. I (Caroline) was hesitant because podcasting is heavily dependent on the cadence of verbal conversation, and speaking with Simon can take time. Time to clarify and explain and time for Simon to find the right word to answer the question. Would podcasting be a meaningful way for us to share about our business together?
For those of you who have met Simon, know that he is an easy going guy. He enjoys being with people and is laid back. You know your ‘in’ when you get a prank phrase or joke. (For me, it is “you have ketchup on your shirt… made you look!”)
Simon is generally relaxed and he is happy to join in with whatever is going on. When asked a question his most common response is “good”. Simon slips in and participates by watching other people model what is happening in the moment.
From time to time, it becomes clear that Simon doesn’t understand a question or situation and can’t communicate verbally what he wants to say. Often Simon will shrug it off because it takes a lot of effort and time to make people understand. So Simon’s voice can slip away as he says “no, all good”
As an adult he got a new tool. It is an iPad with a communication app. It is a series of pages of icons/words that can be tapped individually or to build phrases. The app will ‘read’ the word or phrase. Simon uses it to communicate something when someone says “pardon me?” or “could you repeat that?” I find this tool helpful when I want to tell Simon about abstract, or past, or future things.
When I expressed my hope that Simon and I could speak together on the podcast to Natalie, the producer of the DSC: Project Inclusion podcast, she had some ideas. She asked the hosts to prepare questions ahead of time and sent them to us. Then Simon and I recorded our answers. Sitting together, I read out the question, made sure Simon understood what it meant, and together we gave an answer.
You can listen to the episode (10 minutes) here. In the episode we talk about our business, and we talk about it together. That means you’ll hear me introduce the touchChat communication app, you’ll hear my voice, you’ll hear Simon’s voice, you’ll hear the touchChat app read words and phrases. You’ll notice the recording quality change as we shift from speaking at the microphone to speaking to each other. I’m proud of this short podcast episode. We did it together.
