Barriers and enablers to communication with people with intellectual disability

Do not assume a person with an intellectual disability cannot communicate.
Barriers to communication
Barriers to communication impact on the ability of the person to navigate the many facets of life; from doing their own shopping, to attending a medical appointment. These barriers can be described as internal or external to the person.
What does good communication look like?
- Building rapport and keeping the individual central to decisions.
- Actively listening by using all of your senses and giving the person your full attention.
- Don’t forget, you communicate more through non-verbal means than through the spoken word. So, being sensitive to non-verbal language, feelings and displaying empathy builds the relationship of trust with the person. This can show the person with an intellectual disability you are keenly interested. We will be exploring this in more detail later on this week.
Key communication skills
Take some time to review these key communication skills.- Allow time to have a conversation with a person with an intellectual disability. Not being rushed and not rushing the person are key to ensuring an appropriate pace.
- Recognising and flagging the need for reasonable adjustment instead of allowing the need for adjustment to arise speaks volumes for a positive approach. It also focuses on the communication need itself, rather than highlighting the impairment.
- Being person-centred demonstrates that you are serious about getting it right, and you want to build and sustain patient involvement. Person-centredness is about keeping the person with the intellectual disability at the centre of all communication, decisions, and planning, and ensuring they are consulted throughout their journey through the health service.
Improving Health Assessments for People with an Intellectual Disability

Our purpose is to transform access to education.
We offer a diverse selection of courses from leading universities and cultural institutions from around the world. These are delivered one step at a time, and are accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop, so you can fit learning around your life.
We believe learning should be an enjoyable, social experience, so our courses offer the opportunity to discuss what you’re learning with others as you go, helping you make fresh discoveries and form new ideas.
You can unlock new opportunities with unlimited access to hundreds of online short courses for a year by subscribing to our Unlimited package. Build your knowledge with top universities and organisations.
Learn more about how FutureLearn is transforming access to education