SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION CAPACITY OF PARENTS

A parent’s speech, language and communication skills can impact on their ability to access services. Ensuring all information is “communication accessible” to parents with Communication Support Needs is essential in order to reduce health inequalities and break the intergenerational cycle of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (RCSLT 2016).  Parents own communication skills can impact on their ability to support their child’s speech, language and communication development.

This factsheet provides further information on the intergenerational cycle.

WHAT ARE COMMUNICATION SUPPORT NEEDS?

Individuals with Communication Support Needs can have difficulty with one or more of the following:

• understanding verbal, or written communication
• expressing themselves
• Interacting with others in a meaningful, appropriate or socially acceptable way

An individual may have had this need all their lives because, for example, they have autistic spectrum disorder, a learning disability, cerebral palsy or a sensory impairment. Or, an individual may have developed a communication support need as a result of an accident or illness: for example, Dementia, Motor Neurone Disease, a Stroke or Multiple Sclerosis

IDENTIFYING THOSE AT RISK

It may not always be obvious at first that an individual has Communication Support Needs, however the Inclusive Communication practice tool describes how if information is not accessible individuals may:

• Avoid or not engage with services
• Not respond to advice given
• Give irrelevant or unclear responses
• Behave in a way which can present challenges to service providers. For example, a person with communication support needs might only see certain staff, or appear inflexible, unpredictable or unreliable
• Express strong emotions that might appear to be inappropriate to the situation, such as anger, frustration, embarrassment, or anxiety

A 2007 review of the literature on Communication Support Needs concluded that Individuals with Communication Support Needs are more likely to:

• be unemployed
• experience negative experiences within healthcare
• be misjudged in terms of cognitive level and in terms of mental health status
• be involved in the criminal justice system
• have difficulty accessing the information required in order to utilise services
• live in socially deprived areas

HOW TO HELP MEET THE NEEDS OF PARENTS WITH COMMUNICATION SUPPORT NEEDS

Growing up in Scotland (2015) states that the role of the Health Visitor in providing one to one advice and support to parents, should be central in the efforts to tackle inequalities in the early years. Below are some suggested ways of supporting parents who have Communication Support Needs.

• Implementing good “Inclusive Communication Practice” as set out in Principles of Inclusive Communication - A self-assessment tool for public authorities.
• Consider the RCSLT’s Five Good Communication Standards (2013)

1. There is a detailed description of how best to communicate with individuals
2. Services demonstrate how they support individuals with communication needs to be involved with decisions about their care and their services.
3. Staff value and use competently the best approaches to communicate with each individual they support.
4. Services create opportunities, relationships and environments that make individuals want to communicate.
5. Individuals are supported to understand and express their needs in relation to their health and wellbeing.

• Finding out about parents’ communication preferences and offering information in a variety of formats, including audio versions.
• Seeking advice from a Speech and Language Therapist if required.