This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Chatterton, S. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Chatterton, S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

An investigation of speech and language therapy to improve the communication environment of people with severe learning disabilities who have communication difficulties and behaviours that challenge services

The need to understand the role of communication in triggering, maintaining or exacerbating challenging behaviour is crucial when working with a client group with severe learning disabilities. Speech and language therapists are becoming increasingly involved in this process. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT 1996), recommend that the most appropriate form of intervention includes:

I. facilitating carers in the understanding of the nature and causes of challenging behaviour, particularly in relation to communication

2. facilitating carers in understanding the role of the environment and their own communication in relation to the clients challenging behaviour

3. facilitating carers in developing more appropriate ways of communicating with clients with challenging behaviour

4. Supporting carers in developing appropriate activities for the client (RCSLT I996)

This project used the above principles to investigate the effect of speech and language therapy on the communication environment in a home for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. The results show an increase in: the length of interactions initiated by the staff with the service users; the use of non- verbal communication to support interactions and a decrease in the number of attempts the service users needed to make before a staff response was given. The author concludes that speech and language therapy was effective in improving the communication environment. The impact of the improved communication environment on challenging behaviours was not measured.

Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 2, No. 4, 203-211 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/146900479800200406


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?