Communication-friendly environments

Also called Communication friendly settings, Communication supportive environment, Communication-friendly spaces

Noise, light, layout, signage and time. A setting can make communication easier or impossible without anyone noticing, and most of it can be changed.

What it is

A communication-friendly environment is a place that has been looked at from the point of view of someone who finds communicating hard, and changed accordingly. Quieter. Better lit, without glare. Laid out so people can see each other's faces. Labelled with pictures as well as words. Staffed by people who slow down, wait, and know the person's system. With time built into the routine for a slow answer.

The idea is that a lot of what looks like a person's communication problem is actually the room's. Take a person who does fine at home and "can't communicate" at the day centre, and the difference is usually the day centre.

Who it can help

Everyone in the building, which is the argument for doing it. Specifically: people with hearing loss, for whom background noise is the single biggest barrier; autistic people and people with sensory needs, for whom light, noise and smell can shut communication down completely; people with a learning disability and people with dementia, who need signage and routine; AAC users, who need somewhere to put the device and a partner with time.

It's a setting-level change, so the person who can act is usually a manager, a head teacher or a ward sister, not the family. But families can ask for it, and the Accessible Information Standard gives them ground to stand on in the NHS.

How it works

Audits usually work through five areas. Sound: background music off, hard surfaces softened, one conversation at a time, quiet spaces available. Light: even, no glare, faces lit from the front so they can be lip-read and expressions seen. Space: chairs facing each other, tables that let a device sit between people, room for a wheelchair to get close. Signs and visuals: symbols on doors and cupboards, visual timetables on the wall, a communication board in every bay. Time and people: staff trained as communication partners, routines with slack in them, and the person's passport read by every new face.

Schools often use a checklist to audit a classroom, and the changes are cheap: a carpet, a visual timetable, a talk-less-wait-more rule. Care homes can do the same. Hospitals are harder, which is why the hospital passport matters so much there.

Getting started

Sit in the setting for ten minutes where the person usually sits, and listen. Count the sound sources. Turn off the ones nobody's listening to.

Put a symbol on three doors and the cupboards that matter. Put a Talk board or a paper communication board where the person spends most of their time, not in a bag.

Ask the manager whether the setting has ever been audited for communication access, and ask for a copy. If the answer's no, offer them this page.

Where to get help

Speech and Language UK runs a communication-friendly settings programme for early years and schools. RNID advises on acoustics and hearing loops. The National Autistic Society covers sensory environments. Communication Access UK offers free training and a symbol that a setting can display once staff have done it. For NHS and adult social care, the Accessible Information Standard sets out what is required.