Communication A to Z

Somebody hands you a leaflet that says AAC. A review mentions partner-assisted scanning. A ward asks whether your dad has a communication passport. Everyone else in the room seems to know what these words mean, and asking feels like admitting you're behind. You aren't. This library explains each one plainly: what it is, who it helps, how it works, and what you can do about it this week. Search by the word you heard.

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.

7 topics filed under I.

I

IMCA

Also called Independent Mental Capacity Advocate, Independent mental capacity advocacy

An advocate the law says must be appointed when a person lacks capacity for a serious decision and has nobody independent to consult.

Independent advocacy

Also called Advocate, Advocacy, Non-instructed advocacy, Self-advocacy support

An advocate is someone whose only job is to help you say what you want and make sure it is heard. Not a social worker, not a carer, not a relative.

Installing a web app

Also called Add to Home Screen, Progressive web app, PWA, Installing a browser app

Putting a browser-based communication aid on the home screen so it opens like an app, full screen and offline, with no web address to find in a hurry.

Intelligibility

Also called Speech clarity, Speech intelligibility, Being understood

How much of a person's speech a stranger understands. It has an expected trajectory in children, and a practical answer when it stays low.

Intensive care and communication

Also called ICU, ITU, Critical care, Ventilated patients

Awake on a ventilator and unable to say you're in pain, frightened or thirsty. What the unit can do, and what a family can bring.

Intensive Interaction

Also called II, Intensive interaction approach

Conversation before words: joining in with a person's sounds and movements until there's a to-and-fro, and building everything else on that.

Interpreters and family

Also called Family as interpreter, Using relatives to interpret, Professional interpreting

Why a relative should not be the interpreter in a medical or legal room, however fluent and however willing, and what to ask for instead.

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