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Communication

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About Easy Read

Easier words with pictures to help explain some ideas.

Good communication

An illustration of a clipboard with a list with ticks with smaller images, like of a book and microphone around it.

Information that is easy to understand helps us. 

It helps us learn about our health. 

It helps us talk about our health. 

Good information helps us make choices. 

Good communication puts us in the centre of our life.  

Health people like doctors can learn to communicate with people with intellectual disability. 

They must remember that everyone has the right to:  

  • get information we can understand 
  • choose how we communicate 
  • express our needs and wants. 

When information is easy to understand, people can learn about their health. They can talk about their health. They have the facts they need to make informed choices. 

Good communication puts people at the centre of their own health journey. 

Professionals can learn how to communicate with patients and clients who have intellectual disability.  This could include: 

  • communication methods like key signing and AUSLAN 
  • using tools like pain scale charts  
  • knowing questions you can ask to check understanding. 

It helps to remember that everyone has the right to: 

  • get information they can understand
  • choose how they communicate
  • express their needs and wants. 

Resources

Information and tools to help you communicate in a way people can understand

Two people sitting on bean bags and talking next to a window.
National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health
2 months ago

Having Safe Conversations About Difficult Experiences

A guide to having conversations about difficult experiences for trusted supporters of people with intellectual disability.

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