ASC (Asynchronous Speech Championship)

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Accessibility

Hello Everyone! We want to make sure our students have the best possible opportunity to participate in the fullness of their existence. We know this happens on many fronts, some of which are built into the asynchronous tournament structure. That said, there are ways we can work to make our tournaments more accessible for students. We want to make sure we capture the ways we can best create the most inclusive opportunities possible for students. Below are a couple of ways to improve accessibility for your students:

Accessibility Notes to Judges
As coaches, we often work with students whose performance styles are impacted by physical or mental health conditions. Perhaps a student who uses a mobility aid walks from point-to-point differently in a public address (or doesn't do the transition walk at all). Maybe a student with cerebal palsey holds the book differently (or uses an alternative to a book with page turns) in interpretation categories. Some students who have autism may not make eye contact in the same way as other students. We know students who receive comments on these behaviors outside their complete control may struggle to feel fully integrated into the community.

If you have a student who fits into this type of category, we encourage you to enter a note to judges in the same space we enter Content Warnings (under the Pieces/Topics tab). Here you can list notes for a judge that will be entered directly on the ballot (viewable only by judges the student will see at the tournament and tournament staff). You do not need to disclose diagnoses or rationale for differences, but simply noting the difference can alert the judges and impact the way comments are phrase and included or excluded.

Sample notes might incluce:

• Student will not make eye contact due to medical condition
• Student will not turn pages due to medical condition, but text present in full
• Student will not make transition walks due to medical condition

Judge Block
Judge blocks are taken very seriously at the ASC. We believe our students and coaches act with honor and integrity, so we do not question when a coach requests a judge block. If a judge has made ableist comments to your students in the past, please contact the tournament director (julie.walker@smsu.edu) to request the block. 

Additional Accomodations
Do you have an idea for an accomodation we haven't listed here? Is there something we can do to make sure every member of your team has equal opportunity to participate in nationals? Please reach out to the touranment director (julie.walker@smsu.edu) to discuss the ways we can improve our work!