Transcript “Inclusive Communication”: How can I effectively communicate when

“Inclusive Communication”
How can I effectively communicate
when a person has a developmental
disability?
The Missouri Adult Protective Services Conference
November 29, 2007
Goals of this session
At the conclusion of this session, you will—
 be familiar with the basic model for
communication which can be used in any
communication situation
 be able to use the basic communication
model
 be able to adapt your communication style
to meet the needs of people with disability
My assumption
You know how to do your job—interview
people; investigate; effectively communicate.
This session is designed to give you some
information and pointers which will enhance
your repertoire of communication tools so you
are able to work with a wider range of people.
Introduction
 “How can I effectively communicate with a
person with a developmental disability?”
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Why are you asking this question?
Why is effective communication important in
your work?
What constitutes effective communication?
Key Principle #1:
People with disabilities are
people first.
What is a developmental disability?
 System perspective
 Definition
Deficiency focus
 Program eligibility
 diagnostics
 Attitudes & beliefs
 Roles
 Status
 contributions
 My life as I live it
 Interests, gifts & talents
 Hopes and dreams
 Control of my life and
destiny
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 Community/social
perspective
 Personal perspective
Federal definition from the
Developmental Disability Act
Physical or mental impairments that begin before age
22, and alter or substantially inhibit a person’s
capacity to do at least three of the following:
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take care of themselves
speak and be clearly understood
learn
walk/ move around
make decisions
live on their own
earn and manage an income
Examples of developmental disability
 People with autism
 Folks with cerebral palsy
 Someone who has had a traumatic brain
injury
 A person with hearing impairment
 Other examples?
Caution!!
 A disability is only one
characteristic of the
person (don’t let the
disability be life defining
 How a disability
presents itself varies
from person to person
(don’t over generalize
from the disability label
 Distinguish the person
with a disability from the
impairment
Social Perspectives
Acceptance
 Roles & relationships
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Friend
Neighbor
Co-worker
Spouse
Church member
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Rejection
Target for ridicule,
abuse, personal gain
Recipient of charity &
pity
Cause of fear/anxiety
Isolation & segregation
Personal perspective
 “We are people first!”
 We want
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Opportunity
Choice
Competence
Control
A life
Key Principle #2:
Effective communication
with someone who
happens to have a
disability begins with using
effective communication
strategies.
Elements of Communication
sender
message
receiver
Effective Communication Skills
Active Listening
Initiating
Responding
Process
Initiating Skills
 Starting communication (Proposing):
Introduces a new idea,
suggestion or proposal; is
actionable
 Adding on to an idea (Expanding) :
Enlarges, extends or develops
an existing proposal
Ways of Responding
 Positive responses
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Agreeing  actively
supports a person’s
idea or suggestion
Disagreeing 
expresses a lack of
support or agreement
 Negative responses
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Attacking  attacks
another person directly
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Defending  attempt
to ward off an attack,
whether real or
perceived
Active Listening Skills
 Giving information the sender provides facts, opinions or thoughts
 Seeking information sender asks questions to clarify information or
collect more information
 Reflecting receiver seeks to identify the emotion of the sender on the
basis of non-verbal information
 Checking in receiver seeks to determine if an earlier communication
has been perceived accurately
 Summarizing receiver recounts in compact form previous
communication
Process Skills
 Bringing in
Solicits participation from a person present, but not
verbally contributing
 Shutting out
Excludes a person’s participation by seeking to stop
their participation
The goal in effective communication is to achieve a
balance across participants
Possible breakdowns in the communication
process: the sender’s perspective
 Physical “articulation”
 Formulating the message (figuring out what
to say)
 Clearly expressing the message (conveying
the info so receiver understands)
Possible breakdowns: the receiver’s
perspective
 Literally “hearing” the message
 Understanding the content of the message
 Processing the message
Possible breakdowns: the message
 Lack of a commonly understood vocabulary &
syntax
 Difficulty placing the message in context
 Does the “medium” of the message work for
both parties?
Key Principle #3:
Effective communication
means tailoring your
approach for each
individual and the
particular situation.
Tailoring the process
 If the person has a physical disability
 If the person has a vision impairment
 If the person has a hearing disability
 What about a speech disability?
 If there is a cognitive disability
 What if the person uses non-symbolic forms of
communication?
Key Principle #4:
Everyone communicates!
Symbolic v. non-symbolic
communication forms
Symbolic
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Abstract representations
of reality
Non-symbolic
 More concrete
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Socially agreed upon
vocabulary & syntax
Specificity
Pictures
Gestures
Body language
 More individually
defined vocabulary
 More difficult to interpret
Key principle #5:
Improving our ability to
communicate “inclusively”
takes practice.
Some ideas which might help improve
inclusive communication
1. Ask people you interview for feedback, e.g.,
2.
3.
4.
5.
is our interview going OK so far?
work with a partner so you can get feedback
use opportunities to improve your skills,
rather than avoiding them
spend time with people with disabilities
get and use information
“Listen with an
intensity that
most people save
for talking.”