Tell Their Stories

We are who we are because of the persons we serve. We can extol the virtues of our professors, our mentors, the vendor guy who found a 'just like new' test kit for you at a Walmart price, former Sen. Tom Harkin, or the staff at your school who make the coffee - but our customers/clients/patients are not just sufficient to give us identity, they are necessary. Through our work, we speak for those who do not speak for themselves. We need to tell their stories.

When we tell and share their stories, the larger public comes to know: these people are a lot like me. I can help them - or are they helping me? If what happened to them someday happens to me, will I adjust to this condition better than they did? What can I take away from my experience that might help another person? Caveats abound with this task, regardless of the audience for these stories, or the purpose you intend for their publication.

It is the law where I live, that you do not ever, forever, now and always...no confiding protected health information about persons served, unless the person or the legal representative has given written permission for its expressed uses. A law is not a 9900 pound aggressive animal that kills hundreds of humans each year, but its power and reach is to be respected. When you attempt to tell the person's story, respect their rights to privacy while telling a great story!

HIPAA protections assured, you are at an advantage at storytelling with your finely honed powers of observation. Your writing chops are continually toned, by the saily grind of what we do! There are then, numerous professional and commercial venues to lift up your persons served; whether the stories are in the form of case reports, first person diaries, feature stories in periodicals and websites, investigative news reports, documentary films, applications for AAC device funding, testimonials by the person's circle of support, books written by the person to teach others about their life journey, or school newspaper stories the person may write....there are so many good stories to tell!

Who benefits from telling the stories of persons served? The clinician, the person, the support circle, the community naive to the field of CSD, and the professional community - continually benefiting from the laboratory ' s connection to real life - they all hunger for the stories to be told. Will you hold the pen?