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Communication Skills and Adults with Learning Disabilities: Eliminating Professional Myopia
Author(s) -
Gaag Anna
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.1998.tb00057.x
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , multidisciplinary approach , psychology , context (archaeology) , service (business) , learning disability , communication skills , public relations , developmental psychology , medical education , business , medicine , marketing , sociology , political science , paleontology , social science , law , biology
There can be little doubt that effective communication is of crucial relevance to the quality of life of individuals with learning disabilities. What is much less certain is how ‘effective communication’ is defined, still less how it can be maximised. However, there has been considerable progress towards understanding the dual nature of communication difficulty; the intrinsic nature of an individual's communication and the extrinsic factors which influence communication experience in profound ways. This paper will discuss the development of communication skills in this context, outlining the essential components of a strategy for communication development. It will highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the communication needs of adults with learning disabilities. It will stress the need for agreed standards and procedures, careful co‐ordination between health and social service agencies, and on‐going monitoring of service provision. Too often, too little has been provided on an ad hoc basis, with little concern for an overall strategy. Progressive services incorporate an agreed strategy on how to build communication skills for all services users, in the same way that strategies on housing or employment might be formulated. Communication development can only succeed on this basis.