While there are no special A.A. members, some members need special help to receive the A.A. message. A.A. guidelines state we define A.A.’s with special needs “as persons who are blind or visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing; chronically ill or homebound; those who are developmentally disabled; and many others who may have less visible challenges.” Respect for the dignity of others is the foundation for all our efforts to carry the message to alcoholics with special needs, with an emphasis on identification rather than on how we are different.

As one deaf A.A put it
“I’m just an alcoholic, like everyone else. I have the same need to be a worker among workers’ and not be singled out for special treatment. If you can just make the program available to me, I’ll do what I have to do to work it.”
Alcoholics Anonymous is in the business of removing barriers to recovery, we want all to be welcome to our meetings and have access to literature on the program of recovery.

Additional versions of Big Book available

The goal is to include all alcoholics in the wonderful experience of belonging to a group and partaking of a full range of benefits of membership.

The district 16 Access Committee has available when needed:

The following versions are available through the AA.org Website and also inquire at our local Central Office 541-732-1850.

• The basic text if our program, affectionately known as the Big Book
• Alcoholics Anonymous in Braille format
• The ASC video format
• The Audio Version of the Big Book.

A Spanish version of the Big Book is available at Central Office. – 116 E. 6th street Medford, OR.

Please inquire about copies from District through our Access Committee Chair – Email: access@medfordareaaa.org