Community Living Alternatives
Group 2026 9

Respect Means Listening, Choice and Speaking Up

At our latest PRS Advisory Group meeting, participants continued our conversation about respect—what it looks like, what it feels like and how we can show it to one another.

The discussion quickly showed that respect can take many forms. Participants talked about feeling respected when others greet them, remember important things like birthdays, offer help and take the time to listen. They also discussed how important it is to be asked what they want rather than simply being told what to do.

That led to an important conversation about choice.

At CLASS, we believe the people we support should have a voice in decisions that affect them. Participants talked about choosing activities, sharing ideas about community outings and speaking up when they would like something to be different.

As one part of the discussion emphasized, choices may not always include every option we want—but having the opportunity to share an opinion and be part of the conversation matters.
Speaking Up Is Part of Respect
Participants also shared examples of times when something someone said or did made them feel uncomfortable or disrespected.

One participant described being called a name he didn't like. He initially walked away, but eventually told the other person how the words made him feel. Once his friend understood, the behavior stopped.

Another participant talked about asking someone to move a walker that was blocking access to her locker. Rather than assuming the person intended to be disrespectful, she explained what she needed and asked for the situation to be changed.

These real-life examples led to an important takeaway: people may not always know that something bothers us unless we tell them.
Speaking up, listening when someone tells us how they feel and changing our behavior when appropriate are all ways we can show respect to one another. Participants also talked about how staff can help if someone needs support having those conversations.

Respecting Different Opinions
The group also explored the difference between disagreeing with someone and disrespecting them. Friends can like different sports teams, activities or ideas and still treat each other with respect.

That idea will lead directly into our next PRS Advisory Group discussion: voting and the right to make your own choices.

Participants expressed interest in learning more about voting, including how to become registered, how to learn about candidates and issues, and how to make an informed decision rather than simply choosing what someone else tells them to choose. The group also discussed that a person's vote is private—they can share who they voted for if they want to, but they don't have to.

Coming October 29th at 11:00am: Understanding Your Vote
The 2026 Colorado General Election is November 3, so at our next meeting we'll talk about voting in a simple, accessible and nonpartisan way.
We'll use a Nonpartisan Plain Language Voting Guide designed to help people—including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD)—better understand what is on their ballot. We'll talk about what voting means, why it matters, how to learn about the choices on a ballot and how each person can make their own informed decision.
Because in the end, voting connects directly to what we've been talking about all along:

Respect means having a voice.

Respect means having choices.

And respect means allowing others to make their own choices, too.