Communication Support – Removing Barriers at Work

What this resource is for

Communication is a fundamental part of most workplaces, but there is more than one way to communicate effectively.

Communication support can help remove barriers during recruitment, interviews and employment when someone has difficulty accessing, understanding, processing or expressing spoken or written communication.

The aim is not to make someone communicate in the same way as everybody else. It is to make communication accessible to the individual, so they have the opportunity to understand, participate and contribute.

What can communication support include?

Depending on someone's individual needs and circumstances, communication support might include:

BSL interpreters • Lipspeakers • Speech-to-text support • Communication support workers • Assistive communication technology

Other workplace adjustments may also help, such as providing information in writing, allowing additional processing time, giving clear and direct instructions, providing written follow-up after meetings or agreeing alternative methods of communication.

The appropriate support will depend on the communication barrier the person experiences and the demands of their particular job.

Who might communication support help?

Communication support may be relevant for people experiencing barriers associated with deafness, hearing loss, speech or communication difficulties and some neurological or physical conditions.

Some neurodivergent people may also experience significant barriers around communication and processing information.

However, it is important not to assume someone's communication needs based solely on their diagnosis or condition.

Two people with the same diagnosis can have completely different communication needs.

A useful starting point is:

Communication Barrier → Impact at Work → Support Needed

For example:

Difficulty hearing spoken information in meetings → Important information may be missed → Appropriate communication support or accessible written information

Difficulty communicating verbally → Unable to communicate effectively using speech in certain situations → Alternative or assistive communication method

Difficulty processing lengthy verbal instructions → Information may be difficult to retain → Written instructions and additional processing time

Communication isn't only about speaking

Workplace communication involves much more than simply having a conversation.

It can include:

Meetings • Telephone calls • Video calls • Training • Written instructions • Emails • Presentations • Interviews • Team discussions • Customer communication • Emergency information

Someone may communicate extremely effectively in one situation while experiencing significant barriers in another.

For example, a person might communicate confidently in a one-to-one conversation but struggle to follow a meeting where several people are talking, information is being delivered quickly and there is little time to process what has been said.

Understanding where, when and how communication becomes difficult can therefore be much more useful than simply saying someone has a “communication difficulty”.

A Personal Perspective from Maggie

Communication is an area that is particularly important to me, both personally and through my work at Space to Breathe Therapy.

One thing I have learned is that people can very quickly assume that because somebody can communicate well in one situation, they should be able to communicate in exactly the same way everywhere else.

It doesn't always work like that.

Someone might be incredibly articulate when they have time to think, but struggle when they are expected to answer immediately.

Someone may understand written information perfectly but find lengthy verbal instructions difficult to retain.

Another person might manage a quiet one-to-one conversation but struggle to process several voices in a busy meeting.

And sometimes a person has spent years developing ways of covering those difficulties, so the people around them don't realise how much energy communication is actually taking.

Through my own experiences, I have become very aware of how much difference the right communication support can make. It isn't about intelligence or capability. Sometimes it is simply about how information reaches you and how you are able to respond to it.

This is something I encourage people I support to think about.

Instead of saying:

“I'm bad at communication.”

I like to explore:

“When does communication work well for me?”

“When does it become difficult?”

“What changes between those situations?”

“What would help?”

That small change in thinking can help someone recognise that they don't necessarily have to change themselves. Sometimes we need to change the way communication happens around them.

— Maggie, Space to Breathe Therapy

Communication support and neurodivergence

Some neurodivergent people may experience communication or information-processing barriers at work.

This might involve processing spoken information, interpreting unclear instructions, responding immediately to questions, finding the words to explain something under pressure, communicating when overwhelmed or managing conversations involving several people.

Helpful adjustments might include:

Written follow-up after meetings • Clear and direct instructions • Additional processing time • Breaking information into smaller sections • Allowing written responses where appropriate • Providing information before a meeting • Reducing unnecessary ambiguity

The important point is that support should be based on individual need rather than assumptions about a diagnosis.

What helps one autistic or ADHD person may not help another.

Communication support during recruitment

Communication barriers can begin before someone gets the job.

Recruitment processes often rely heavily on telephone calls, interviews and being able to provide rapid verbal responses.

For someone who communicates or processes information differently, this can create a barrier that has very little to do with whether they are actually capable of performing the job.

Depending on individual circumstances, communication support or reasonable adjustments may be appropriate during recruitment and interviews.

This might involve considering how information is provided, how questions are communicated, the interview environment, processing time and what support the person needs to communicate effectively.

The purpose of an adjustment is not to give somebody an unfair advantage.

It is to help ensure that the recruitment process does not create an unnecessary barrier to demonstrating their skills, knowledge and ability to perform the role.

Communication support in everyday employment

Once someone is employed, it can help to identify the specific situations where communication becomes difficult.

Ask:

Where does communication become difficult?

Is it spoken, written or both?

Does the environment make a difference?

Does the number of people involved make a difference?

Do I need additional time to process information?

What happens when communication isn't accessible?

What communication method works better for me?

Do I need technology, another person or a change in how information is communicated?

Someone may need communication support throughout their working day, while another person might only need it for specific meetings, telephone calls, training sessions or particular tasks.

Communication support and Access to Work

This resource connects directly with the wider Access to Work information in this section.

Where someone is eligible, Access to Work may be able to provide funding towards certain forms of communication support when disability or a health condition creates additional barriers at work.

When explaining the need for support, return to:

Barrier → Impact → Support

Rather than simply saying:

“I have hearing loss.”

you might explain:

“I cannot reliably access spoken information during team meetings. This means I can miss information that is necessary for my role. I need appropriate communication support so that I can participate effectively in those meetings.”

This helps connect the condition to the actual workplace barrier and the support being requested.

It can also be useful to record these communication needs in a Health Adjustment Passport, particularly if you find it difficult to explain everything verbally during workplace conversations.

Finding what works for you

There isn't one “correct” communication adjustment.

For one person, the answer may be technology.

For another, it may be a communication support worker.

Someone else may simply need information provided in writing rather than verbally.

Another person might need a combination of approaches.

The goal is not to find the adjustment commonly associated with your diagnosis.

It is to find the method that makes communication accessible to you.

Remember

Accessible communication is not about giving someone an advantage.

It is about recognising that spoken and written communication are not automatically accessible to everybody in the same way.

Sometimes the solution is technology.

Sometimes it is another person.

Sometimes it is additional processing time.

And sometimes it is simply changing how, when or where information is communicated.

The most useful question is:

“What would make this communication accessible to me?”

When communication becomes more accessible, people have a better opportunity to participate, contribute, understand information and demonstrate what they are capable of at work.

This resource provides general information about workplace communication support. Individual needs and eligibility for funded support vary according to personal circumstances and the relevant support scheme.

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