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 ![[----------------Horizontal Rule----------------]](/webart/hrule.gif){kind=small}  4. Time to Get in the MixCommunication can’t happen in a vacuum. Communication happens in that vital pulsing web of social interactions that is a part of most of our daily lives. Whether we are at home, at work or at play, we spend a good part of our day talking to people. I recently had an experience with my then nine-month-old daughter that highlighted just how strong the urge to socialize can be. I was having a conversation with a friend; my daughter was sitting in her high chair half hidden in a corner. She started yelling very loudly, "She wants to be in the mix," said my friend. When we scooted her closer to us, she resumed a more appropriate level of infant discourse. Everybody wants to be in the mix. But for those of us with communication disabilities, it’s not easy. Whether we have our disabilities at birth or acquire them later in life, communication disabilities have the same effect: they take you out of the mix. You are a spectator, half hidden in the corner. Even if you want back in, you are probably too scared, because communicating when you have a speech disability means taking risks. After all, if you try to communicate somebody might laugh at you, or think you are stupid, or get annoyed with you because you are taking too long to say what you are saying. Who knows, you might be holding up the wheels of progress. So you sit there on the sidelines and watch life pass you by year after year. I have news for you. The only thing keeping you from getting in the mix is your own fear of what you think might happen. Come out of the shadows. Peek around the corner. There’s a party going on and you’re invited. This article appears in AS Volume 1, # 1. You may order this issue by clicking on Ordering Home Page Online Ordering 
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