Effective Communication Strategies for Individuals with Disabilities

This report comprehensively examines the challenges and strategies associated with interpersonal communication with individuals with disabilities. It begins by defining disability and exploring the diverse communication barriers stemming from various impairments, including physical, intellectual, and learning disabilities. The report highlights specific challenges such as inaccessible materials, difficulties with auditory and visual information, and language comprehension issues. It then details effective communication skills, emphasizing patience, flexibility, and the use of accessible language and tools. The evaluation section assesses current practices, focusing on the importance of non-verbal cues, simplified language, and awareness of individual preferences. Furthermore, the report provides an overview of resources and networks available to support the disabled community in Australia, including advocacy groups and specialized organizations. The report concludes with recommendations for promoting better interpersonal communication, underscoring the need for tailored approaches, respect, and efforts to foster inclusion in all aspects of life.

Running head: Disability and Interpersonal communication skills
Disability and Interpersonal communication skills
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1Disability and Interpersonal communication skills
Executive summary
Disability is understood as physical impairments or intellectual problem faced by an
individual. This report aims to understand and examine the multiple nature of barriers in the
lives of disabled people that restricts their communication abilities. It further delves into the
different methods that enable in effective communication with the disabled people. It
explores the imperatives that would bridge the barriers in communication. Finally, the report
concludes with suggestions that would promote better interpersonal communication.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Barriers in communication.........................................................................................................3
Disability and effective communication skills...........................................................................4
Evaluation of processes and practises in effective communication...........................................5
Resources and networks for the disabled community................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

3Disability and Interpersonal communication skills
Introduction
This study is focussed in understanding and locating the nature of impediments and
issues concerning the disabled people. It also attempts to understand the disabled community,
the effective communication skills, an assessment of the communication skills adopted during
the course of interaction with the disabled people and finally the documentation of the
networks and resources available for the disabled people.
Barriers in communication
The nature of communication barriers varies according to the nature of disability of
the concerned person. For example, for children with partial blindness reading small prints
and the unavailability of no large prints version of materials in schools is one of the major
hurdles (Shields & Synnot, 2016). Another issue is the unavailability of Braille or versions
for people who may use screen readers. In case of people with hearing impairments,
accessing auditory messages like video that do not use captioning or oral communication that
do not employ a manual interpreter pose the major problem. Using technical language,
jargons and words with long syllables and speaking at a faster speed without repeating the
sentences can be cumbersome for the understanding of people with cognitive impairments.
People with intellectual or learning disabilities have variance in understanding as a
result, of which pictorial representation become important tools in communicating the
message or the content to them (Boardman, Bernal & Hollins, 2014). Patients of autism and
high-functioning learning disabilities do not develop language and have an IQ outside range
are prone to higher-level of language difficulties. People with cerebral palsy often have
dysarthria that leads to conditions that may range from speech intelligibility issues to
unrecognisable speech. People with non-verbal learning disabilities face difficulty related to
non-verbal memory, spatial relations, mathematics, concentration and They also find it

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difficult to express their feelings and are afflicted with poor interpersonal abilities (Griffiths
& Smith, 2016).
Disability and effective communication skills
The chosen client group for the study are disabled people. The term disability refers to
physical restrictions and limitations faced by an individual due to bodily impairments of
cognitive impairments. According to WHO, barriers in the lives of disabled people are
beyond the physical barriers. It includes environmental barriers where the physical
environment is not accessible or there is an absence of adequate assistive technology (like
adaptive, assistive and rehabilitative devices), negative view about people with disability and
services and policies that are nonexistent that impede the involvement of people with health
problems in all spheres of life (Who we are, 2018).
It is important to be creative and industrious while dealing with people with disability.
Another key aspect for acing effective communication skills is patience, flexibility and highly
developed communication skills. It can be stressful to get across a message to the disabled
people and hence, a great deal of self-awareness combined with patience is pertinent. There
will be situations where being assertive should also be important. Being observant and being
able to determine the best strategy for effective action is also a skill that one needs to master
during such communication (Shilling et al., 2015). On a day-to-day basis, it is imperative to
make use of broad range of skills being a good listener is also mandatory. Having an astute
judgement, taking quick decisions and offering good advice are also a set of skills required
for the interaction. In order to establish communication with someone with learning
disability, it is important to employ all the communication tools. Secondly, it is important to
follow the lead of the person one is communicating with and to go with the flow of the

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conversation. It is important to use accessible language and avoid jargons that might pose
difficulty in understanding.
Evaluation of processes and practises in effective communication
Individuals with disability can range from intellectual disability to physical
impairments. While dealing with people with physical impairments. While dealing with
people experiencing intellectual disability, facial expressions are used to ensure effective
communication (Brady et al., 2012). It is found that short, crisp and simple language is used
for communicating with people with intellectual disability. It is strictly advised to not to use
jargons and allow the people their own time in processing the information. There is an
emphasis on paying attention to the body language of the disabled people. Apart from the
body language, an act of warmth and respect towards the persons with disabilities is also
suggested compared to other patients. Individuals with intellectual disabilities may take
longer time to respond or may be slower to process the information. Hence, clinicians are
trained to adjust to such conditions, rephrase the questions and mitigate information overload
for the persons (Hagan & Thompson, 2014). There is also an emphasis on the clinicians to
know beforehand how the patient would prefer to communicate.
In addition to all the above mentioned skills it is important to understand the different
lifeworld of people with disabilities---their social location of racial identity, class position,
gender, sexual orientation and ethnic identity that will enable a clinician to engage in better
communication skills.
Resources and networks for the disabled community
In Australia, some noteworthy groups are diligently working towards the cause of the
disabled people. Some of these networks and advocacy groups are as follows:

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 ADEC (Action on Disability with Ethnic Communities) - This organization is
committed towards providing assistance to people from diverse background with
disability and also carers and the family.
 Association for children with a disability- The vision of this organization is to
provide free information, training and support link to service profile.
 The Disability Advocacy Resource Unit- The aim of this organization to provide a
list of disability advocacy networks based on geographical location.
 DisAbility Connections- This is a network that comprises more than 1000 disabled
people and their families.
 Women with Disabilities Victoria- This group is concerned with women disabled
individuals.
Apart from these, there are self-advocacy groups, organizations specifically working for
visually impaired people, hearing impairments, learning disability, Acquired Brain Injury
(ABI) and mental health issues. Organizations, advocacy groups and networks like Down
Syndrome Victoria, SPELD Australia and Dyslexia Australia are present to provide training
and special education to people with difficulties. The Australian Network on Disability, a
reputed organization is a national level, member-based organization, the principle of which is
to assist other organizations in creating inclusive workplace for disabled people (Disabilities,
2018).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be understood that the key to effective communication skills lies in
identifying the special needs. Being patient, benevolent combined with training are essential
in strengthening interpersonal communication skills with the disabled people. The disabled

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people should be treated with dignity and concerted efforts should be made to not make them
excluded from the everyday activities in an able-bodied society.

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References
Boardman, L., Bernal, J., & Hollins, S. (2014). Communicating with people with intellectual
disabilities: a guide for general psychiatrists. Advances in psychiatric
treatment, 20(1), 27-36.
Brady, N. C., Bruce, S., Goldman, A., Erickson, K., Mineo, B., Ogletree, B. T., ... &
Schoonover, J. (2016). Communication services and supports for individuals with
severe disabilities: Guidance for assessment and intervention. American journal on
intellectual and developmental disabilities, 121(2), 121-138.
Disabilities. (2018). World Health Organization. Retrieved 7 March 2018, from
http://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/
Griffiths, C., & Smith, M. (2016). Attuning: a communication process between people with
severe and profound intellectual disability and their interaction partners. Journal of
Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 29(2), 124-138.
Hagan, L., & Thompson, H. (2014). It's good to talk: developing the communication skills of
an adult with an intellectual disability through augmentative and alternative
communication. British journal of learning disabilities, 42(1), 66-73.
Shields, N., & Synnot, A. (2016). Perceived barriers and facilitators to participation in
physical activity for children with disability: a qualitative study. BMC
pediatrics, 16(1), 9.
Shilling, V., Bailey, S., Logan, S., & Morris, C. (2015). Peer support for parents of disabled
children part 2: how organizational and process factors influenced shared experience
in a one‐to‐one service, a qualitative study. Child: care, health and
development, 41(4), 537-546.

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Who we are. (2018). And.org.au. Retrieved 7 March 2018, from
https://www.and.org.au/pages/who-we-are.html