Overcoming Communication Barriers with Individuals with Disabilities

This essay discusses the importance of effective communication with individuals with disabilities, highlighting the various communication channels and potential barriers. It emphasizes the need for specific communication skills, such as patience and knowledge of sign language, when interacting with people who have hearing or vision impairments. The essay identifies resources like qualified interpreters and alternative formats for materials that can aid in successful communication. It also shares a personal experience illustrating communication challenges encountered in the workplace. The conclusion reinforces the importance of improving communication skills and knowledge to foster better interactions with individuals with disabilities, and it mentions various methods of written and oral communication that can be employed. Desklib offers a range of study resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to further enhance understanding of this topic.

Running head: DISABILITY 1
Disability
Name
Institution

DISABILITY 2
CHOSEN CLIENT GROUP: DISABILITY
Introduction
Communication remains considered as an exchange of information by writing, speaking,
or using some other medium (Machiels, Metzelthin, Hamers & Zwakhalen, 2017).
Communication remains one of the acts of delivering the message from one person to another
with the efficient use of mutually understood signs, symbols as well as semiotic rules
(‘’Communicating with People with Disabilities’’, 2019). There are many channels of
communication that might be chosen by the communicator as per her/his convenience level. The
numerous channel of communication consists of- auditory, visual, as well as tactile, for example,
Braille. The transmission of information from the sender to the receiver might be affected by
numerous things. These include cultural situations and emotions, among others. The sender
encodes the message normally in a mixture of words as well as non-verbal communication. The
receiver then decodes the message. Effective communication indeed involves overcoming
communication barriers and minimization of potential misunderstanding at every stage in the
communication process.
Describe the Barriers in Working with the Chosen Client Group
At times, individuals find it hard to communicate with persons having hearing issues and
vision impairment due to specific communication styles as well as the language needed to be
select for them to communicate (Chinn, 2017). Disabled people have different communication
styles. Some may be extremely articulate; some extremely talkative, as well as others may have
no or limited verbal communication. So, it means that an individual needs to have knowledge
and skills on those communication styles of which you find that many people lack the necessary
knowledge and skills that can enable them to communicate fully with the disabled people. There

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are indeed a lot of problems in communication as well as interaction with individuals with a
disability. People are at times concerned that they shall say the wrong thing when
communicating with them, so they say nothing at all- hence further segregating individuals with
disabilities.
Demonstrate a Clear Understanding of the Communication Skills Required For Effectively
Communicating With the Chosen Client Group
It has been observed that most of the time, individuals find it challenging to communicate
with such people who are suffering from vision impairment and hearing issues. It remains not
easy for every person to communicate with such people because specific knowledge and skills is
needed among the people to communicate with them well. They ought to know various sign
languages that remain used by disable individuals to communicate with others. The main skill
that an individual has to possess to communicate with disabled people is patience. He/she ought
to have the patience to know what they are trying to communicate. Also, patience is essential
because it enables people to understand how to respond to people with disabilities. The
communicator ought to wave her hands or tap an individual who is deaf on the shoulder. After
getting the attention, he should start communication by speaking in regular language.
(Developing Effective Communication | SkillsYouNeed, 2019). Also, the communicator that
there is nothing in front of his/her mouth to enable the person with disability to understand him
well by reading his mouth (Communicating with People with Disabilities, 2019).
Identify Applicable Resources That May Assist With Communication When
Communicating With the Chosen Client
There are many communication aids, as well as accommodations that can enable
successful communication. These can consist of the use of qualified interpreters (oral, sign

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language, or tactile), materials in alternative formats, for example, a large print, Braille and
computer disk, a reader, audiotape, as well as assistive listening devices.
The communicator ought to be positive. Also, the communicator should have excellent
communication skills so that the individual with a disability does not have any issue to
communicate with the communicator. The next critical quality that the communicator should
have is patience. This is because the communicator can only communicate well with individuals
suffering from disability if she/he has the patience to understand what the disabled people are
trying to convey. Also, an individual may make use of gestures and signs to communicate what
he wants to communicate to the individual suffering from a disability like hearing and visual
impairment. Therefore, the appropriate resources that a person may use to communicate with
individuals with disabilities effectively are skills and qualities.
Personal Experience: Disabled Person
Last year, I hard a discussion with one of the employees in the ministry of health. Mr
Jackson told me a lot of challenges with communication that they experience at their workplace.
First, he said to me that communication styles often vary among people with disabilities. He said
that some people might have sign language, some verbal language, and others may use non-
verbal communication styles, for example, eye movement and gesture. All of this often hinders
them from communicating with other people. This is a challenge to them because they do not
have a single language that can be identified within the workplace. This prevents them from
expressing their needs to the management. Mr. Jackson also talked about a lack of appropriate
material to support communication between them and other people as another challenge that they
encounter in the workplace. Interacting with one of the disabled people indeed enabled me to
learn about the communication barriers associated with the disabled people

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Conclusion
From this paper, we can say that communication remains one of the necessary as well as
the essential aspects that act as a link between 2 different people. Communication helps two
people in the effective exchange of thoughts. The key skill that an individual needs to acquire to
communicate well with disabled individuals is patience. He/she ought to have the patience to
understand what the disabled people are trying to communicate. The other method that can be
used by disabled individuals to communicate their viewpoints and thoughts with other people is
Lips reading. Furthermore, there are numerous other methods of written and oral communication
that can be used by disabled people to communicate their thoughts. Therefore, to communicate
well with disabled individuals, people need to improve their skills and knowledge.

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References
Communicating with People with Disabilities. (2019). Retrieved from
http://www.nln.org/professional-development-programs/teaching-resources/ace-d/
additional-resources/communicating-with-people-with-disabilitie
Communicating with People with Disabilities. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.stlouis-
mo.gov/government/departments/human-services/disabled-office/etiquette.cfm
Developing Effective Communication | SkillsYouNeed. (2019). Developing Effective
Communication | SkillsYouNeed. Retrieved from
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/improving-communication.html
Machiels, M., Metzelthin, S. F., Hamers, J. P., & Zwakhalen, S. M. (2017). Interventions to
improve communication between people with dementia and nursing staff during daily
nursing care: a systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 66, 37-46.
Chinn, D. (2017). Review of interventions to enhance the health communication of people with
intellectual disabilities: A communicative health literacy perspective. Journal of Applied
Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 30(2), 345-359.