Out and about

Also called Community communication, Communicating in public

Shops, buses, cafés and strangers. What to prepare, what to carry, and how to handle the person who talks to your carer instead of you.

What it is

Out and about is every communication that happens away from home, school or a service: buying a coffee, asking for a bus stop, telling a shop assistant what you want, being asked a question by a stranger. The partners are people who have never met an AAC user and have thirty seconds. That makes it the hardest setting there is, and the one where a person's independence is decided.

Most of the difficulty is on the other side of the counter. The person with the device is fine. The barista does not know where to look.

Who it can help

Anyone who uses AAC, signs, or has speech that strangers find hard, and the people who go out with them. Young people learning to go out alone. Adults in services whose trips out are always with staff who do the talking. Older people whose speech has changed and who have started staying in.

It is not only about high-tech aids; a card in a wallet does much of the work.

How it works

Preparation does most of it. The words for the destination go on the system before leaving: the menu, the shop, the bus number, the ticket. Places vocabulary and quick phrases are the tools. A pre-stored sentence that explains the situation to the stranger, "I use a device to talk, please wait for my answer", removes the worst thirty seconds. A wallet card saying the same thing does it without a device.

The partner's job on a trip out is to be invisible. Stand behind, not beside. When the stranger talks to you, look at the person. Do not answer for them. If the stranger cannot cope, the person's pre-stored sentence, and your silence, teach them.

Communication Access UK is the national symbol scheme that trains shops, transport and public services to communicate well with people who have communication difficulties; look for its symbol in windows. Some transport operators offer assistance cards and journey assistance for exactly this.

Getting started

This week, plan one trip. Add the words for that place, put "please wait for my answer" on a button or a card, and go. Let the person do the whole exchange, including the failures.

Make the wallet card: name, how I communicate, please talk to me, and an emergency contact. Laminate it.

Load a spare voice on a phone in the person's pocket. If the main device is too big for a trip, a phone in the browser is not, and it works with no signal.

Where to get help

Communication Access UK lists trained businesses and offers free training to any organisation. Scope advises on disabled people's access to shops and transport. Mencap covers getting out and about for people with a learning disability. National Autistic Society has guidance on public places and offers an autism alert card. Disability Rights UK covers transport rights.