Communication dictionary

Also called Personal communication dictionary, Communication chart, Behaviour dictionary, Gesture dictionary

A table with three columns: what the person does, what we think it means, and what we do about it. So everyone reads the same look the same way.

What it is

A communication dictionary is a written record of the person's own signals, the ones nobody taught them. When she taps her left knee twice, she wants the radio on. When he turns his head away and hums, he's had enough. When she goes very still and stares at the door, she needs the toilet. Each signal gets a line: what it looks like, what it probably means, and how to respond.

It exists because these meanings usually live in one or two heads. The mum knows. The key worker knows. The new night staff don't, and the person's signals go unanswered until they escalate. Writing them down is how a person with no formal system gets understood by strangers.

Who it can help

People with profound and multiple learning disabilities, people with deafblindness, people with advanced dementia, people with a severe brain injury, and anyone whose communication is mostly through movement, sound and expression. Also anyone who uses a formal system and has a lot of informal signals besides, which is nearly everyone.

It's an alternative to nothing, not to a device. Where a person can use symbols or a device, they should have one, and the dictionary covers everything the device doesn't.

How it works

The classic format has four columns. What the person does (the observable behaviour, described precisely, without interpretation: "closes eyes and turns head to the right"). What we think it means ("I don't want any more of that"). What we should do ("stop, wait, offer something else after a minute"). And who noticed it and when, because the meanings are hypotheses and they need checking.

The meanings are built up by watching, and by comparing notes. If three people independently read a signal the same way, it's probably right. If they disagree, that's worth a conversation, and the dictionary says "unsure" until it's settled.

The dictionary is a living document. Signals change, especially in a person who is growing or whose condition is progressing. It's reviewed with the communication passport, and it belongs in the care plan so a service is accountable for reading it.

Getting started

Draw the four columns on a sheet on the fridge or the office wall. Write down five signals you're sure of tonight.

Ask everyone who knows the person to add to it over a fortnight, including the bus escort and the sibling. They see different signals.

Test one interpretation each week by responding to it consistently and watching what happens. A signal that's answered reliably tends to get used more, which is the whole point.

Where to get help

PMLD Link and Mencap publish guidance and templates. Sense covers dictionaries for deafblind people. A speech and language therapist in a learning disability or complex needs team can observe and help write the first version, and can set up Intensive Interaction alongside it. BILD describes their place in positive behaviour support.