Most people with learning disabilities will have some speech, language and communication
difficulties. These difficulties can be hidden and often have a big impact on the person's
quality of life and their health and well-being. This means that everyone who works with, supports
or cares for a person with a learning disability needs to know what good communication looks
like and how they can make adjustments to their own communication to ensure positive interactions
take place. Good communication is the hidden element required to make sure that people with
learning disabilities are kept safe, treated with compassion, dignity and respect, involved
in decisions about their lives and care, able to make choices in their daily lives, receive
the best possible care and help to stay healthy, have positive relationships and not subjective
to reactive and restrictive practices. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists has
produced the five good communication standards to help everyone know what good communication looks
like. This film will show you through the eyes of people with learning disabilities what these
standards would look like in practice. Each person will have a communication passport or plan
that tells everyone the best ways to communicate with them. Good communication depends on everyone
understanding the best ways of communicating with each person. The person and the people who know
them best need to develop a rich description of the best ways of communicating with them.
This description needs to be agreed, kept up to date and be easily available to anyone
communicating with the person. This description is sometimes called a communication passport,
plan or profile. This should include the best ways of supporting the person's understanding
and expression, the best ways of promoting interaction and involvement and describes
how to be with someone. As Zimran's Speech and Language Therapist I'm working together with
his carers and his family to put together a communication passport and this is a document
that has all that information about how Zimran communicates, how people need to communicate
with him, how they can spend time together and have fun with him and so that all that information
is in one place that can go to new places, be given to new people who meet him so that everyone
knows that information and doesn't have to start finding it out from the beginning again.
Each person is supported to be involved in decisions about their life and their care.
I'd like to show you a few things that how people can communicate in different ways
and this is how I usually amused for communication is a mind-map.
Not everybody learns in the same way or communicates in the same way and
even people who use mind-maps probably will have their own little quirks.
So you can't assume that one way of communicating is going to work for the person.
You have to find out how they think and how they remember and how their mind works really and it's not easy.
People with learning disabilities are often excluded from decision making
as others do not know the best ways to involve them.
There is therefore a risk that the person's views and needs are assumed.
We need to use the information in the person's communication passport to help us think of
creative ways of getting their views and involving them in decisions.
In order to achieve this we need to make our communication as inclusive as possible
in order to support both understanding and expression.
Inclusive communication means that we use any means possible to support the person
to understand and be understood.
We will use the best ways to support each person with their communication.
Once we know and understand the best ways to support someone's communication,
we need to make changes to how we communicate to make sure we are as inclusive as possible.
This may involve making our language simpler or using different ways of communicating
such as signs, gestures, pictures or objects to help each person understand.
We also need to remember that communication is a two-way process
and we need to understand how the person expresses themselves
and respond positively to their communication.
We also need to be aware of things that will affect communication
such as hearing, visual or sensory difficulties.
We need to make sure that our communication has a positive impact on each person.
Chris has autism and the iPad helps to foster a sense of structure
throughout his day. It's been very useful.
The first time I met Chris, I couldn't actually understand what Chris was trying to tell me
and trying to say to me.
So the iPad was a really good introduction.
He could tell me about himself.
He could tell me what he wanted, where he wanted to go, what he wanted to do.
The great thing about the iPad is it enables Chris to make detailed choices and decisions.
I did a charity swim and I've raised the most money.
I have been presented with two trophies and two medals by the Lions Club.
I've been working in the field of autism for about seven years
and obviously communication is a massive thing.
I've been working in the field of autism for about seven years
and obviously communication is a massive thing.
Reducing anxiety is very important to people with autism
and minimising anxiety.
The iPad is absolutely fantastic, I think.
We will create opportunities for people to communicate.
We will create understanding, welcoming and socially rich environments
to ensure the development of positive relationships
that give opportunities for good communication.
Each person needs to have the opportunity to communicate about all of the things
that all people talk about, such as dreams, hopes, fears, choices,
as well as everyday wants and needs.
Good communication is about social interactions, such as greetings,
sharing stories and having fun.
If these interactions are positive,
they will help with emotional and mental wellbeing,
providing a sense of belonging, involvement and inclusion.
These interactions do not always involve speech
and can be about being with the person,
making meaningful contact with them and doing things together.
We had the chance a couple of years ago to trial a café
and we wanted the people with learning disabilities to be able to serve in that café.
So in order to do that, we had to develop a menu and order form system
that uses quite a lot of pictures and tick boxes
so that the people themselves, even if they can't read,
they can still take an order from people.
There's a lot of benefits that we see from people being able to do this work experience.
A lot of it is that it means that they can then communicate with the customers,
but particularly for some people, we've really seen a raise in their confidence,
a big increase in confidence of people,
and the smile that you see on their faces when they're going to do the order
and that you can just see how proud they are because they've been able to take an order
and then go and give it to the person.
And so the more that you can help that person communicate,
the more they can actually live the life they want to live.
They can actually live the life they want to lead and make the choices they want to make.
Each person is supported to understand and express their needs
in relation to their health and well-being.
One thing I would like to say is that I was brought up fairly short
when Kai was born because she had to have an operation to save her life.
And the surgeon actually asked me,
are you sure you want me to operate?
You do know she has Down syndrome and will live if I do.
And despite all the problems, nobody can understand the amount that my daughter has given to me.
People with learning disabilities have a lot to offer.
You just have to find a way to get it out.
We know that people with learning disabilities experience avoidable health inequalities.
Communication difficulties make it harder for each person to tell us about their health needs
and it is also more important for them to understand health information.
It is essential that we consider each person's communication needs
when we are supporting them with their health.
We need to know how each person communicates pain and about other health issues
and always consider ill health as being a cause for any change of behaviour.
Knowing how each person understands is also essential in making decisions about their capacity
to have health treatment and just as importantly for them to receive care with compassion and respect.
Thank you.
Thank you.
