10 minutes
The methods people use Meet the main methods people use when speech is not available or not enough, and what each requires of the listener.
What you’ll be able to do Describe the main communication methods people use and, for each, state what the listener has to do differently. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What has happened? Document a next step for The methods people use: For one person you support, write down their method in specific terms so the next worker does not have to guess. Many methods, one rule People communicate in every way that works. Some sign. Some use a device that speaks for them, selected by touch, by switch, or by eye movement. Some point to letters, words or pictures on a board. Some type. Some use gesture, facial expression, or the direction of their gaze. Some communicate through vocalizations and movements that mean specific things to the people who have learned them. Many use several, depending on the setting and the day.
The rule that covers all of them: the method belongs to the person, and the listener's job is to learn it. Replacing it with something faster for the listener, or requiring the person to use a method they did not choose, takes away the range of what they can say. Yes-or-no questions are the most common substitution, and they reduce a person to agreeing or disagreeing with whatever the questioner thought to ask.
Methods, and what each asks of you Sign language
A full language with its own grammar. American Sign Language is not English on the hands. Asks of you: a qualified interpreter, and speaking to the person rather than to the interpreter.
Speech-generating device
A tablet or dedicated device that speaks selected words. Selection may be by touch, switch or eye movement, and may be slow. Asks of you: time, silence while the person composes, and never finishing their sentence.
Boards and books
Letters, words or pictures the person points to. Asks of you: a position where you can see the board, reading aloud what is pointed to so the person can confirm, and time.
Typing
On a phone, tablet or keyboard, sometimes with one finger, sometimes very slowly. Asks of you: waiting without watching the screen impatiently, and reading what is typed rather than guessing ahead.
Gesture, gaze and expression
Looking up for yes, down for no. Pointing. A hand raised. A specific face. Asks of you: learning this person's specific signals from someone who knows them, and writing them down.
Behavior someone has learned to read
A vocalization, a movement, a change that means something specific. Asks of you: humility, a person who knows the meaning, and the assumption that it means something.
Three things to do with every method Learn it from someone who knows The person, a family member, a long-serving worker, a clinician. Ask what each signal means, how long answers take, and what to avoid. Write it down.
Wait longer than is comfortable Every method that is not speech is slower than speech. The most common failure is filling the silence. Count to ten, then count again.
Confirm rather than assume Say back what you understood. Let the person correct it. A wrong interpretation acted on is worse than a slow one confirmed.
Write the method down What you can change You control whether a person's method travels with them or has to be rediscovered by every new worker. A written description, specific enough to use, is the difference.
What to watch for Do not let a method be replaced by yes-or-no questions because they are faster. Speed for the listener is paid for by the person's range.
Your next step For one person, write a one-page description of their method and put it where the next worker will see it first.
Carry this forward Methods include sign language, speech-generating devices, letter and picture boards, typing, gesture and eye-gaze, and behavior that someone has learned to read; many people use several.
Each method asks something specific of the listener: an interpreter, time, a position where the board can be seen, a willingness to learn what a particular sound or movement means.
The method belongs to the person; the listener's job is to learn it, not to require the person to use a different one.
A flashcard set on methods, an accordion on what to do, a scenario decision and a knowledge check.
For one person you support, write down their method in specific terms so the next worker does not have to guess.
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Previous lesson Next lesson Carry this into practice Presuming competence, the methods people use to communicate when speech is not available or not enough, what it takes to work with an interpreter or a communication device well, and how to make what you say and write usable.
Return to the experience: What did you notice or try, whose perspective informed it, and what would you keep or adjust?
Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.
