Welcome
Communication is an essential part of humanity. It is what connects us, helps us to understand each other’s thoughts and ideas, share information and build social relationships. The team at the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria has been actively debunking the common myth that not being able to talk implies one has nothing to say.
We all need to be able to take care of our health. This means being able to get relevant information and educate ourselves about health issues, and being able to access relevant health services. For persons with severe communication disabilities, taking care of their health often proves challenging. Difficulties with understanding health information are experienced by many persons with communication disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation. One issue that we all have to deal with during this time is the need for easily accessible and reliable health information. For persons with disabilities, navigating this landscape can be exceedingly challenging. Health information is often couched in confusing and inaccessible language and provided in formats and modalities that do not support comprehension and retention. As a result, persons with communication disabilities may be under- or misinformed, with consequent detrimental effects on health outcomes.
The Centre for AAC, Future Africa and UNICEF have jointly embarked on a project entitled “Co-designing health communication and education materials”. The health education materials were co - developed through extensive consultations and collaborations with various stakeholders including youth with disabilities, caregivers of children and youth with communication disabilities and professionals who work in the health and education sector. A variety of resources are available in the links below for down loading and use. Click on a topic and see the resources avaiable which may include communication boards, social stories and visual schedules.
The project team
Resources
Communication in healthcare
| Healthcare: Communication Boards | How to communicate with healthcare professionals: Social Story
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How to use a communication board: Social story | How to use a communication board: Visual Schedules |
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isiZulu | seTswana | ||
Communicating about pain
| Pain: Communication Boards | How to talk about pain: Visual Schedule | How to talk about pain: Social Story |
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Communicating about COVID-19
| What is Coronavirus Child version: Social story | Keeping your mental health up during lockdown: Social Story | Going to the hospital during Covid: Social Story | How to tell if information is real or fake news: Social Story | Washing hands: Visual Schedule | How to make your own hand sanitiser: Social Story | Washing hands: Social Story | Lockdown Boards: Communication Boards |
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General healthcare
| What is CP? Social Story | Going to the hospital: Communication Boards | Going to the doctor: Visual Schedule | Having a medical procedure: Social Story | Keeping myself healthy: Social story | Having my blood drawn: Social Story | Healthy Eating: Social story | Having an X-ray: Social Story |
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Links to Publications
Co-designing health education materials webinar
Youth Workshop
How do UP researchers help people who cannot speak get medical help and tell doctors what is wrong?
Meet Constance Ntuli - a University of Pretoria researcher with complex communication needs
Activated season 2. Technology as a liberator and equalizer Ms Constance Ntuli and Prof. Shakila Dada
Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Development
www.up.ac.za/media/shared/212/Unicef%20Images/unicef-fa-project.zp248209.pdf
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