Towards a Culture of Communication and Involvement

The commitment of communication partners to communicate with, and involve, people with learning disabilities requires the active promotion of a culture that is positive and empowering. It is also important for communication partners to consider how they view disability because this greatly influences the way in which they support people. The social and medical models of disability demonstrate how disability can be perceived and how society views disabled people. Attitudes and perceptions towards people with learning disabilities can greatly affect the communication opportunities and quality of support provided.

Some of the barriers to communication that might exist in services supporting people with a learning disability include the following:

• Lack of understanding; eg assumptions are made that people cannot communicate.
• Lack of confidence or experience (which may result in a person not engaging with someone who uses alternative methods of communication).
• Lack of guidance and support available to practitioners.
• Lack of training in communication approaches and tools.
• Lack of skills among practitioners and managers.
• Lack of creativity in approaches.
• Poor, or no, support plans which show how a person communicates and how they like people to communicate with them.
• Information not being shared between practitioners, teams and services.
• Lack of communication tools preventing a person from communicating in the way they are used to.
• Limited resources to support communication.
• Assumptions made about what a person cannot participate in, is able or unable to do, about what they like or dislike, and their preferences or opinions.

The above information is an extract from the book ‘Communicate with Me – A Resource to Enable Effective Communication and Involvement of People with a Learning Disability’.

You can purchase 'Communicate with Me A Resource to Enable Effective Communication and Involvement of People with a Learning Disability’ book with companion online resource and quality assurance frameworks from Speechmark www.speechmark.net , Amazon and all good book retailers.

You can also join the:

•Communicate with Me Communication Partner Development Scheme

•Communicate with Me Internal Quality Assurance Scheme  

 visit www.communicatewithme.com

Main text cited from: 

© Martin Goodwin, Jennie Miller, Cath Edwards (2015) abridged section from ‘Communicate with Me – A Resource to Enable Effective Communication and Involvement of People with a Learning Disability. Speechmark Publishing

Communication and Learning Disability

Communication with and Involvement of People with a Learning Disability

Currently, there is a range of support options for people with learning disabilities. Traditionally, the majority of people will receive support from services throughout their lives, to a greater or lesser extent.  These services may include school or college, play and leisure services, residential or short break services, day services or supported employment. People may also be included in community circles of friends and other unpaid natural support. Increasingly, people with learning disabilities access personalised support which they may manage, with varying degrees of help from other people, as well as using a greater range of community settings.

The nature of support provided by each of these options may be different but all communication partners share the same challenge. Because the proportion of people with learning disabilities who experience difficulties in communicating is so high, the challenge is to effectively meet people’s communication needs and involve them in their lives and their communities.

How a person is supported to communicate and be involved in their lives can greatly impact on that person’s quality of life.  It follows, then, that the ability of the communication partner to support effective communication and involvement is central to an improved quality of life

The above information is an extract from the book ‘Communicate with Me – A Resource to Enable EffectiveCommunication and Involvement of People with a Learning Disability’.

You can purchase 'Communicate with Me A Resource toEnable Effective Communication and Involvement of People with a LearningDisability’ book with companion online resource and quality assurance frameworks from Speechmark, Amazon and all good book retailers.

You can also join the:

•Communicate with Me Communication Partner Development Scheme

•Communicate with Me Internal Quality Assurance Scheme  

 visit www.communicatewithme.com

Main text cited from: 

© Martin Goodwin, Jennie Miller, Cath Edwards (2015) abridged section from ‘Communicate with Me – A Resource to Enable Effective Communication and Involvement of People with a Learning Disability. Speechmark Publishing

A Guide to School Start 2e

The first year of school can be challenging for plenty of children. There are some who need that extra help.

One resource to help in this case is School Start 2e. This practical guide can be used with children who need additional help in developing communication skills during the crucial first year of school.

Successfully trialled over a three-year period, School Start 2e is an invaluable resource for teachers and teaching assistants that encourages good collaborative practice between schools, speech & language therapists, the school's inclusion coordinator and parents.

This early intervention group programme is aimed at enhancing children's language and sound awareness skills during Reception Year in mainstream primary schools

It comes with simple checklists to identify suitable children, contains weekly sessions with 3 activities and handouts, and provides forms for recording outcomes.

One of the materials included in this resource is group sessions for the Language and Sound Awareness programmes. The following video is an example of an assessment for the language group: 

A walk-through the kit used for an assessment:

 Resources for the Sound Awareness Checklist:

Resources for the Language Checklist:

Details of the checklist:

Example of prepared resources for delivery of the groups:

The results over a 3 year pilot provides evidence that the programmes have been successful in the schools that have used it. 

Testimonial for School Start:

Speechmark authors Catherine De La Bedoyere and Catharine Lowry have been Speech & Language therapists for 15 years. Catherine De La Bedoyere also taught postgraduate teachers at Kingston University and currently works at Sussex Community NHS Trust. Catharine Lowry's experience has been within language units, community clinics and special schools for children with MLD and is presently in the mainstream service for Your Healthcare NHS provider in Kingston Upon Thames

Know more or order School Start 2e.