Teaching communication skills to a man with learning difficulties

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Adult Learning Difficulties

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Teaching communication skills to a man with learning difficulties

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TOPIC: Teaching communication skills to a man with learning difficulties

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#46

jennyshaw (User)

Posts: 1

Teaching communication skills to a man with learning difficulties 3 Years ago

Hi Everyone,

I have recently started working with adults with learning difficulties. I am seeing a man in his 50s who has been in an institution for most of his life and now lives in residential care. He has Down Sydrome and does not talk at all. He appears completely passive and does not appear to ever initiate or request anything. Everything is done for him and all choices are made for him. Has anyone got any ideas of things we might be able to do to motivate him to communicate?

Look forward to hearing from anyone who has any ideas.

Thanks Jenny - London

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#47

icommunicate webteam (Moderator)

Moderator

Posts: 49

Re:Teaching communication skills to a man with learning difficulties 3 Years ago

Hi Jenny,

If he is non-verbal at this stage in his life I assume we would be looking at some kind of alternative form of communication. However, before we can do that we need to teach him about communication and how to use it to initiate, request and make choices. If he has been cared for all his life he probably has never needed to communicate and so has never really learnt how.

This is no easy task to be honest. I would look at doing some intensive interaction work with him (I will have some information about this on the site in the next couple of weeks). The intensive interaction should help get him to respond and initiate and possibly even turn-take. If you can get him to respond with the intensive interaction then look at using a picture card system or some makaton. Just choose a couple of highly motivating things and practice with them throughout the day. You will probably have to start with hand over hand practice.

The key here is to get everyone on board and be consistent with the motivators throughout the day. Also just practice with 1 or 2 things to start off with. As I said I will be putting more information online in the next couple of weeks.

Hope this is of some help and maybe some other therapists can add to this with their ideas.

Regards Johan

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#133

Toddce (User)

Posts: 1

Re:Teaching communication skills to a man with learning difficulties 1 Year, 9 Months ago
It seems that you need to be working with the staff that support him rather than the gentleman himself, so that they do not pre-emt all his needs, at the same time as providing him with some simple communication strategies such as gestures, signs or pictures