The tragic death of George Floyd in Minnesota, the worldwide protests in response, and the international movement for racial equality and justice have led to widespread soul searching over the past few weeks. At PRC-Saltillo’s core is our belief that everyone has the right to be treated with respect and fully participate in society. While our mission focuses on individuals who cannot speak, our values extend this to all individuals. As a company, we stand against race discrimination and do not tolerate it. This time is an opportunity for PRC-Saltillo to carefully examine how we may have contributed to the problem of racial inequity through racial and cultural biases in our products and actions. It is a time to look at how we, as a company, can speak not only to the national conversation, but also take steps that will have a tangible impact.
One of the first areas of focus is on our products. We provide a voice for individuals that cannot speak. Many of those who use our products have a strong identity with their device and yet, the symbols and voices do not reflect the diversity of all those who use them. We are working within our product/engineering teams, and with our symbol and voice partners, to ensure that we provide symbols and voices that are more representative of all the individuals who use them. Additionally, this has started a much-needed conversation between AAC manufacturers about representation in the industry as a whole. We will keep you updated as we make progress on these goals, and welcome you to share your suggestions with us.
This conversation must continue and goes well beyond our products. We need to play our part in building a world that treats every individual with dignity and respect and we will do so.