Plain Language
Searching For The Plain Truth
Summary | The Plain Truth Project is a group of self-advocates, writers, and researchers who want news to be more inclusive and accessible. We believe people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities have the right to make and consume the news.
By Becca Monteleone
The Plain Truth Project (plaintruthproject.org) is a group of journalists, researchers, and self-advocates with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD). We want news to be more inclusive of and accessible to people with IDD.
We do research, create events, and make resources that help us reach this goal.
The people who work on the Plain Truth Project include:
- Amy Silverman
- Becca Monteleone
- Phillis Schmidbauer
- Darius Cunningham
- Beena Raghav (2020-2024)
- Marissa Kuehn (2022)
Where We Came From
We started the Plain Truth Project in 2020. Amy, a journalist, wrote a series of stories about disability services in Arizona. She worked with ProPublica and the Arizona Daily Star. Amy wanted her stories to include people with IDD. For this series, that meant:
- Hosting storytelling events with people with IDD to share their stories.
- Including people with IDD as sources.
- Writing plain language versions and having audio versions of all the stories.
- Having artists with IDD illustrate the stories.
Amy worked with people from ProPublica and with Becca on this series. After the series, we wondered if it changed anything. We didn’t know if anyone with IDD saw the plain language versions or if they were helpful.
We learned that there was not a lot of research or guidance on making inclusive news for people with IDD.
We decided we wanted to learn more.
What We Believe
People with IDD have the right to make and consume the news. Making more accessible news means taking people with IDD seriously as people who make and share knowledge.
Photo credit: MAKE Studio for the Plain Truth Project.
Some ways we think about making more inclusive news:
Center People with IDD in Reporting
This means making sure people with IDD are sources. It also means making sure journalists know how to interview people with IDD and write about IDD in respectful and accessible ways. We also think about how to make news about IDD when you can’t speak to the person with IDD themselves. We think the best journalism about IDD includes many different voices and perspectives. This includes caregivers, family members, professionals, and more.
Make Public Engagement Events
Public events about news topics that feature people with IDD can make news more inclusive. We host storytelling events with people with IDD. This shows that people with IDD can share their own stories. It also connects potential sources to journalists. We also have events about news stories themselves. This gives people a different way to get the information and ask questions.
Create Many Ways to Learn About the News
We think people should have access to the news in many formats. That includes plain language, voice recordings, videos, and illustrations.
What We Do
Research
There is not enough research about people with IDD as news consumers. We cannot know how to make the news more inclusive if we don’t know how people with IDD get their news now.
We formed focus groups and asked people with IDD how they get the news, what kind of news they want to read, and how we can make the news easier to understand. Some people suggested more plain language. One focus group member, for example, asked for “small words that make sense to us.”
We published our research in Media, Culture and Society (bit.ly/4qssT7O) in 2025. We also made an easy-read summary (bit.ly/4avhyPr).
Workshop
We think the best way to make the news more inclusive is to listen to people with IDD. In 2024, we hosted a workshop in Washington, D.C. that brought together journalists and self-advocates with IDD. At this workshop, groups worked together to identify the challenges and opportunities of creating inclusive and accessible news.
Outreach
We share our work with many different audiences.
Our website has resources anyone can use. This includes examples of plain language news stories. It also has a database of guides on how to make plain language yourself.
We have presented at academic conferences, like the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Society for Disability Studies, and Reinventing Quality.
We have shared our work with the public. We have presented to and worked with newsrooms on how to do plain language and why it matters.
What We’ve Learned
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is that we have a lot more to learn. We do not have enough research about people with IDD making, getting, or understanding the news. We need more input from people with IDD before we can make guides for making inclusive news.
We also learned that while plain language is important, it is not enough by itself. We need many different ways for people to get and understand their news.
What We Want to Do Next
We plan to do more research about plain language in the news. We want to know what formats people with IDD like the most and find most useful.
We plan to create guides and fact sheets for journalists on how to make more inclusive news.
We want to work with more self-advocates, researchers, and journalists around the world. We want to learn what other people are doing to make the most inclusive, accessible news possible.