We want people with IDD to work on projects about their lives. We want them to have meaningful roles and fair pay for this work. Some research terms are hard to understand. This can make it challenging for people to be part of this work.
Our team of researchers and self-advocates created a visual vocabulary list to help. They brainstormed words and pictures for each term. They worked with a graphic artist to bring their ideas to life. The list includes 38 terms often used in research projects. Each term has a symbol and a plain language definition. We hope others use our symbols in their research, training, and outreach.
The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities funded this work. Cynthia Burrow, James Meadours, Brenda Sullivan, and Ashley Sattler created the vocabulary list. Graphic artist Rene Flores designed the symbols. This work is part of the Self-Advocate Network. We connect researchers and self-advocates. We teach them to work well together. We will offer free training for self-advocates in 2025. We will also share free tools with researchers. You can download a PDF of the complete vocabulary list from our News & Resources page. You can also download symbols from Global Symbols.