Tooley Speak

Kevin Tooley – owner and founder

I had an issue when I was a baby. I started using communication devices when I was nine years old and it provided me with opportunities to get a college degree. I started public speaking and then started my own company called Tooley Speak. Tooley speak is a nonprofit business that gives back to society by providing free and affordable presentations on my life and work experience in public speaking.

Kevin's Advice

When approaching a person in a wheelchair or a person with a disability, it may be assumed that the person is not intelligent and they may label them as learning disabled.

Below are a few strategies of ways to interact with a person who has a disability.

1) Don’t assume that the person with a disability can’t hear you because they can’t speak.

2) Ask the caregiver if you can talk to the individual, because they may have anxiety or other issues with meeting new people.

3) You have to be patient with the person who has a disability.

4) If the person has a communication device used by a joystick to communicate their thoughts, don’t walk away from them.

5) Don’t treat disabled people differently.

When a person comes up to a person who is in a wheelchair, they assume that the wheelchair person is not intelligent and that person labels them as learning disabled and I have experienced that too many times and I hate that. Here’s my experience, I had a lady testing me for my IQ she said Kevin, stack the blocks and i could do it then she labeled me as mentally retardant so my speech pathologist came in our classroom and told my teacher that I should be retested and I was. Jennifer was there and she was like “what is the problem?”
Here’s a few strategies to interact with a person who has
Number one: Don’t assume that the person with a disability can’t hear you because they can’t speak.
Number two: Ask the caregiver if you can talk to the individual, because they may have some issues with meeting new people and they might have some anxiety about it.
Number three: You have to be patient with the person who has a disability.
Number four: If the person has a communication device that is used by a joystick to communicate their thoughts, don’t walk away from them.
Number five: Don’t treat disabled people differently.

Tooley Speak

Kevin Tooley – owner and founder

“Our life’s mission should be to share the gifts we have and give back to society”

KEVIN TOOLEY – 2016