“I see, and I understand both sides…”; How the Communication Accommodation Theory helped to Better my Leadership Skills
By: Keegan Hartman
Prologue
“I wanted to extend unto you an opportunity to join the Immune Deficiency Foundation Teen Advocacy Board… would you be interested in joining?”
Dan Antilla, the, then, [youth] Program Manager for the Immune Deficiency Foundation, finally extended unto me- fifteen year old me- what would be a four-year membership into a program in which I had always envisioned myself doing… IDF Teen Council.
Background/ “What is a PI? Who suffers from it”
“First and foremost, for those who do not know, my name is Keegan Hartman. I am currently in my junior year here at the University of Missouri, and I live with, and suffer from, a rare form of a(n) primary immunodeficiency…”
A little background for those readers who may not know what primary immunodeficiencies are. Let me emphasize, they are NOT auto-immune deficiencies, but in fact, are often times much more severe. A way to distinguish the two is remember this: auto-immune disorders occur, typically when your body attacks the healthy cells within your body, or when you have “hyperactive” cells. Whereas, people who suffer from primary immunodeficiency, like me, our bodies come under-equipped with the cells to fight off lingering illnesses, viruses, etc. For me, in particular, I lack the necessary amount of t-cells necessary to fight off infection, virus, and/or illness that enters my body. To compensate, I have to take weekly infusions to help restore and replenish the low amount of antibodies my body produces (single-digit amounts). This is terminal for me, as there is no cure currently, and the treatments are administered subcutaneously on a weekly basis.
Since being screened for primary immunodeficiency at birth, I have lived with a primary immunodeficiency my whole life. Not just me, but I come from a line of primary immunodeficiency survivors. On my mother’s side of my family, my uncles (her brothers), and my great-uncles (her uncles) have lived, and still live with primary immunodeficiency to this day. However, our particular form of PI (for short), in which, all five of us suffer from, is one of the rarest forms of PI known. The name of our PI is known as x-linked agammaglobulinemia, or XLA for short. Again, XLA is a more rare form of PI than most. It is only found in males. Not to mention, often times, mothers, such as mine, can be known as “carriers” for this disorder, and that is normally IF they come from a family tree in which their brothers had PI… the mothers are more likely to pass XLA if they were to have a son.
Expanding a bit further on the history of primary immunodeficiencies and the Immune Deficiency Foundation…
In 1977, Marcia and her husband, John M. Boyle, had their son, John G. Boyle. After about six weeks following his birth, John G. Boyle fell very ill and was rushed to be examined at Johns Hopkins Hospital. After countless tests, it was determined that John G. Boyle had XLA. At the time, XLA, along with the hundreds of other types of PI, had been even more rare than what it is today. So in 1980, Marcia Boyle founded the non-profit organization, the Immune Deficiency Foundation, also known as IDF. Marcia would start this foundation to help serve as a network for families and patients who were living/suffering with PI.
According to the Immune Deficiency Foundation and the National Institute of Health (NIH), there are currently 450 known forms of primary immunodeficiencies. Across the United States, roughly 500,000 individuals live with some form of PI (“Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases”).
Of those 500,000 people, I became a voice of this community in my own right. I embraced the challenge for four years- even if I wasn’t necessarily prepared for speaking to the diverse masses I would be speaking to in my time with the Immune Deficiency Teen Council Board.
I learned to see and understand both sides of the “spectrum” as I matured into my role as a teen leader. In order to mature, I had to learn how to adjust and adhere to different settings and audiences when it came to my public speaking skills. Having only been sixteen when I first joined the Teen Council Board, I was a bit nervous, given the fact I had no prior public speaking skills. However, I reassured myself that my peers, my friends, and the entire IDF community, as a whole, would only help me to grow and would only better me the more I participated group-speaking environments.
Where The Communication Accommodation Theory Could’ve Applied in My Time with IDF
First and foremost, I feel that it is necessary to define the beginnings of this theory before it can be applied to my story…
Howard Giles, a professor who taught communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), in 1971, founded the Communication Accommodation Theory (also know as [the] “CAT” [theory]) (“Communications Accommodation Theory”, 2018). Then, known as the “Speech” Theory, this theory examines individuals’ tone, their cadence, and things like vocabulary, when exchanging conversation with individuals. Essentially, it theorizes that individuals often adjust things like their accent, vocabulary, conversational speed, and/or cadence to match the tone of your listener(s).
Previously, based on how I interpreted the theory, I never really saw anything negative about CAT, or anything that was “criticism” worthy. However, there are many criticisms/negatives you could take away…
Criticisms of the Communication-Accommodation Theory
According to www.businesstopia.com , there are, in fact, many criticisms of this theory. First, many people could very well interpret your change in tone, your change in vocabulary, and pace of speaking, as a sense of mockery.
Back when I served on the IDF Teen Council board, I specifically recall the concluding day of the weekend events, such as the IDF Teen Escapes. Now, IDF hosted these events (the annual Teen Escapes) for families who had teenagers living with primary immunodeficiencies. The IDF Teen Escapes were usually 2–3 days, so typically, they were hosted on weekends during the summer time. Usually on Sundays, at the conclusion of the Teen Escapes, the Teen Council would have the opportunity to speak to both parents and youth for approximately an hour. How it worked was, essentially, five teen council members, including myself, would go to a room filled with JUST parents for about an hour, speaking to them and answering their questions as they pertained to living with PI as teenagers. An hour later, we would alternate to another room, but this time speaking to the teenagers themselves. Tone, speed, and vocabulary were all instrumental in answering these Q&A sessions with both teens and parents. We had to remain cognizant of who we were speaking, our audience, and keep in mind that, especially with the teenagers, they were opening up about some things in which they did not even wish to share with their own parents.
I was always concerned with, and prioritized, talking in a tone that was both comfortable and understanding when it came to speaking with the younger teens. I felt physical actions also served a good purpose when articulating my advice unto parents and teens. Not only did it get their attention, but I felt they understood the detail more clearly because they were more attentive to my advice. Rather, my vocabulary was something that I tended to adjust most often. I kept a more serious tone and was more articulate diction when exchanging perspective with teens’ parents. Yet, since I was a teenager, I knew I could be more relaxed, more outgoing, but still get my point across when talking to teenagers during our Q&A sessions.
Another “criticism” of the communication-accommodation theory is/was, often times, people might only communicate good things about themselves to make them look better and/or to maintain a sense of “credibility” when conversing with another diverse group (to fit in). For me, especially when the parents Q&A sessions, “no stone was left unturned”. The IDF Teen Council Board was an “open book” for the parents. They could ask us about anything as it related to being a teen with PI: how to handle playing a sport, relationships, … sometimes asking about if we were sexually active at our age (yuck!), and things like emotions. However, these were things they felt inclined to know for the sake of their children. Personally, there were definitely times I would respond to a question, but would not be 100% transparent because I felt if I answered the wrong way I may jeopardize my position or tarnish relationships. Yet, I gave my best answers to those who asked. Even today, I think about some of the questions and I am burdened because I didn’t provide full transparency due to the fact I was scared of consequences and judgement. When I would show hesitation to respond to a certain question asked of me, sometimes I would let my other council members answer, or, the next time around, I would usually get a more broad question to respond to.
Closing Remarks/A Call to Action
I feel all of us have to be weary at all times and must consider our audience/environment when communicating messages. Applying the communications-accommodations theory to our everyday conversations helps to hold us, the speaker, accountable, and reduces any potential for miscommunication with others. Speaking to bigger crowds, diverse crowds of all age groups, forced me to develop an appreciation for articulation. The CAT [theory], albeit, at the time I was unaware, but I was applying the theory to my public speaking skills. Really, this theory is a(n) metaphorical “rulebook” that we must take into consideration when speaking to others, no matter their diverse background.
References
“Communication Accommodation Theory,” in Businesstopia, February 4, 2018, https://www.businesstopia.net/mass-communication/communication-accommodation-theory.
“Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases” (pidds). Retrieved April 12, 2021, from https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/primary-immune-deficiency-diseases-pidds