AAC, core vocabulary, partner-assisted scanning, a communication passport. Meetings and leaflets are full of words everyone seems to know already. More than three hundred of them explained in plain English: what each one is, who it helps, and what you can do about it this week.
Please note: This page is general information about communication and the ways people are supported to communicate. It is not an assessment, a diagnosis or speech and language therapy, and it does not know the person you have in mind. If you are worried about someone's speech, language or communication, ask a GP, a health visitor or a speech and language therapist. In an emergency, call 999; if you cannot speak, Relay UK on 18000 or the emergencySMS service reach the same operators.
16 topics filed under D, showing 1–10 (page 1 of 2).
Also called Device maintenance, Charging and cleaning a communication aid, AAC device care
Charging, cleaning, backing up and updating, and who is responsible for each. A flat device is a silent person, and it is always somebody's job.
Also called Deaf awareness training, Communication tips for hearing people
What a hearing person needs to do differently around a deaf person, most of which costs nothing and takes no training.
Also called Deafblind manual, Manual alphabet on the hand, Deafblind fingerspelling
Spelling words onto a deafblind person's hand, using the British fingerspelling alphabet moved from the air to the palm.
Also called Dual sensory loss, Dual sensory impairment, Multi-sensory impairment, MSI
When both sight and hearing are affected, touch becomes the channel: the manual alphabets, hands-on signing and the legal duty every council has to assess.
Also called Dedicated AAC device, Tablet AAC, iPad AAC, Consumer device
A purpose-built aid or an ordinary tablet with an app. The real trade-off is not the price tag but mounting, sound, ruggedness and who fixes it.
Also called Alzheimer's and communication, Communication in dementia, Primary progressive aphasia
Word-finding, understanding and memory change through dementia; the conversation techniques that keep people connected are learnable, and most of them are about you.
Also called Adjectives, Descriptors, Attribute words
Big, hot, broken, more: the words that say which one, what is wrong with it, and how much. Adjectives are the difference between naming and explaining.
Also called DLD, Specific language impairment, SLI, Language disorder
Around two children in every class have a lifelong difficulty understanding or using language with no other cause; most have never been told.
Also called Accessibility settings, Accessibility features, Assistive settings, Ease of access
What every phone, tablet and computer already does for free, before anyone buys anything: switch access, touch tuning, voices, magnification and more.
Also called AAC trial, Loan bank, Equipment loan, Trial period
Try a communication aid before anyone commits to it, and insist the trial lasts weeks in real life, not an hour in a clinic.
Fiducia Talk is a complete AAC talking board, free forever with no account. Fiducia Life puts the same board inside a life, with the family on the same record.
Open Fiducia TalkAccessibility toolkit
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