Aims:

The aims of the Communication Passport are:

• To pass information from person to person.

• To act as an advocate for a child who has limited speech or who cannot express himself/herself through speech.

• To help the child during transitional stages e.g. starting school.

• To achieve consistency in how different people understand and approach the child.

When we first meet people, we usually want to find out all sorts of information about them such as where they are from, their likes and dislikes, their family life, hobbies and interests. Many children cannot express this through speech and therefore require another form of communication.

For this passport to be successful:

Information should be collected over time in consultation with all people involved with the child (family, friends, teachers, special needs assistants, therapists).

Confidential information will not be included in this book as it is intended to be accessible to anyone meeting the child.

Small details are crucial …no matter how unimportant you feel the information, include it!  For example, how the child likes his/her nose wiped, his/her favourite song, his/her television character. These details will all be very important topics to talk about with the child.

Every passport is personal and is therefore highly individualised.

The passport may include information on: family, communication, likes and dislikes, eating and drinking, activities (e.g. at school), difficulties (e.g. vision / hearing / auditory processing), strengths and areas to be developed.

The Passport should reflect the child’s personal taste, humour etc.  It needs to be personalised, using clear and simple language without too much information.  The Passport also needs to be attractive (inviting people to read it) and interactive (e.g. blank pages inviting new additions).

Where possible, the child is involved in the actual presentation e.g. in making the cover, contributing information, choosing photographs etc.

For a free Communication Passport Template, go to www.scope.org.uk/earlyyears or ‘google’ Communication Passport Template.

© Marinet van Vuren, DSC 2010

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