3. Supporting Communication for All Learners

Supporting communication for anyone with a disability is one of the most important, rewarding, and one of the most challenging things we do. Because people with disabilities may communicate in a range of ways, inclusive programs must create ways to support and enable all types of communication.

Some people with disabilities may not develop speech. Of course, this doesn’t mean they don’t communicate; rather, they may have different ways to communicate. This could be sign language, a formal language with its own grammar, or they may use gestures like waving to say hello or pointing at an object they want. Other people may use pictures or symbols to communicate. They may have a notebook with picture symbols or have a tablet with an app that generates a voice when they touch a picture. While these communication modalities look different, they all have a common function: they provide people with a way to tell us what they want or need, what they do not want, and how to share about the world around them. All people communicate—it just may look different for every person. And it’s our job as the adults supporting learners with disabilities to understand and provide ways for the range of communication they may use.

In this video, we are discussing communication. Communication is an important issue because many teens and pre-teens with and without identified disabilities have differences or delays in how they learn and use language. We also know that there’s a relationship between learners with delayed communication skills and challenging behaviors. We’ll start by discussing the different ways teens and pre-teens with disabilities may communicate. Then we’ll reflect on the frustration of communication breakdowns. We’ll end with three different examples of communication supports that can be used in a range of different settings. Let’s begin.

Unfortunately, many learners with communication support needs aren’t always given opportunities to communicate or be heard by their friends, teachers, or other adults. Think about how frustrating it would be if you were unable to tell the people around you what you wanted. Imagine that your class was discussing what everyone did over the weekend, but the teacher kept skipping you because you communicate with pictures instead of words. Wouldn’t you feel a little left out?

Or imagine how frustrating it would be if you felt very thirsty and wanted a drink, but your teacher kept offering you a salty snack. Wouldn’t that be annoying? Would you be tempted to just toss the snacks on the floor and walk away? We certainly don’t want the learners in our programs to feel this way.

Let’s look at some examples for how we can support the teens and pre-teens in our programs with communication support needs.

Isabella is a middle schooler who has Down syndrome. She uses an augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, device to communicate. Before the start of the school year, Isabella’s teachers worked with her family and speech-language therapist to learn more about Isabella’s tablet and how they can use it at school. Isabel’s grandmother and Elena, her mother, met with the teachers to show them how the tablet worked. Together, they added in the necessary vocabulary words for the school subject matters, classrooms, learning materials, and pictures of the teachers. Isabella’s homeroom teacher made sure her tablet was always available and charged, and had a plan in place for morning pickup and afternoon drop-off. Each classroom teacher talked with Isabella’s classmates about her tablet so that they knew that this was how she communicates. Teachers helped other students learn to listen to Isabella when she used her tablet to talk, and patiently wait as she created sentences to share her thoughts.

In this example, all of Isabella’s teachers intentionally planned for her to use her tablet across the day and made sure all the other students understood how their friend communicated. These are crucial ways to promote communication for students using tablets and encourage peers to talk with friends in this way.

Elaine is a bilingual high school student with a disability who attends an afterschool art club. Due to her disability, it’s challenging for Elaine to form some sounds when she’s talking, making it difficult for others to understand her. Prior to starting the club, the teacher, Mr. Sahal, met with Elaine’s speech and language pathologist to learn how he can support Elaine’s communication needs. Together they developed a plan.

Mr. Sahal printed and laminated copies of a visual that gives Elaine ideas of what to do when someone doesn’t understand her. This visual includes options to talk slower and louder, point to pictures, act it out, or say more about it by describing it or giving clues. All of these strategies will give Elaine ideas of how she can communicate her thoughts in different ways when she’s not being understood.

Mr. Sahal and Elaine also taught the other students the signs for “my turn,” “wait,” and “help.” Elaine has learned these signs in her special education classroom and uses them to help communicate important information, words, or phrases she might need in the moment. Finally, Mr. Sahal put up a topic board in the classroom. The topic board has images related to class, such as specific art materials and tools. When working on an art project, Elaine can use this topic board to communicate if she needs a different paintbrush, more water, or a new piece of paper. To accommodate topics and materials that aren’t on the topic board, Mr. Sahal also added a few whiteboards to the classroom so that either he or Elaine can quickly draw different options for Elaine to choose from.

In this example, Elaine’s teacher put a few easy supports in place to help her communicate when others are having difficulty understanding her.

Khalid is a 13-year-old with a developmental delay. Khalid stutters when he talks, which can make it hard for him to communicate and be understood by others. Khalid spends his time at the Teen Zone at his local community center every day after school, where staff have implemented a few strategies to support him. While Khalid is talking, staff actively listen by giving him eye contact and showing interest by nodding their head or smiling. Staff know that it’s very important not to draw attention to Khalid’s stutter, complete words for him, talk for him, or finish a sentence. They also focus on modeling slower speech, pausing between sentences when talking with Khalid. This will encourage him to speak more slowly and is much more effective than telling him to slow down or take a breath and try again.

Finally, staff introduce a talking piece during group meetings. If you have the talking piece, you can express your thoughts without interruption. This will provide a calmer, more structured environment for Khalid and other teens to share. With these supports in place, Khalid feels much more comfortable and confident in the Teen Zone.

After seeing these three examples, take a moment to reflect on your program. Are there learners in your program like Isabella, Elaine, or Khalid? Would they benefit from similar supports? Or you might be thinking about a different way to help teens and pre-teens meaningfully communicate, and how adults can intentionally support this.

Supporting communication takes time and is one of the most important things we can do to promote inclusive spaces where everyone can participate.