Reasonable adjustments in terms of communication could relate to any of the following areas:

Speaking

You may need support in order to verbally express your thoughts, feelings and experience in a way that others can understand.

Tip

  • May need more time to communicate

Speech

You may have difficulty producing sounds which makes speech harder to understand.

Tips

  • Provide options that you can choose from
  • The member of staff could summarise what you've said to you to check that's whatyou meant

Listening

The ability to focus on what is being said can be a challenge for some. Being mindful that this can be affected by an environment (noises/distractions), hearing impairment, experiencing stimulus that others cannot perceive.

Tips

  • Choose a quiet environment
  • Reduce distractions
  • Alter the length of the conversation

Remembering

Some may have trouble retaining what someone is saying especially if it's new infromation or lots of information is being given all at once.

Tips

  • Discuss thing one at a time
  • Repeat 1 or 2 key points at the end of the conversation
  • Write doen key pieces of information to take away

Understanding

Some may have difficulties in understanding information and can be affected by how complex the information is, how it's explained and the person's ability to remember.

Tips

 

  • Avoiding or explaining jargon
  • Staff member summarising what you've said/agreed to check your understanding
  • Use plain English
  • Have things in an Easy Read format

Social communication

Having the skills to interact with others successfully may be a challenge for some. This includes skills like turn-taking or being able to see the other person's perspective. As well as the ability to read and use non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions, person space.

Tips

  • Having 1:1 conversations instead of being in group situations
  • Being explicit, clear and consistent about boundaries and social rules
  • Anticipating and supporting situations where misunderstandings are likely; in communal areas, during group activities, meetings

Higher language skills

Using all of the skills is known as having higher language skills. This can lead to complex communication such as reasoning, problem solving or weighing up complex decisions, which some may not be able to do due to their disability.

Tips 

  • Avoiding non-literal language such as ‘dark thoughts’ or ‘over the moon’
  • Debrief together to help with problem solving by breaking problems down together 
  • Support complex decisions by explaining all the options clearly and working through all the options