ADP daily living component activity 7 - communicating verbally

Introduction

This chapter provides information on activity 7 of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment (ADP).

This chapter should be read and applied in line with the ‘overview of decision making’ chapter and the ‘daily living component introduction’ chapter.

What activity 7 covers

Daily living component activity 7 considers an individual’s functional ability to communicate verbally (using words) with regard to both:

• receptive (receiving, hearing and understanding) communication
• expressive (conveying, talking) communication

in an individual’s native language.

Consider clarity of speech

You should consider clarity of an individual’s speech. In some cases, the other participant in the conversation may have to concentrate slightly harder than normal.

For example, after a certain type of stroke, it can be hard to find the words to say or to articulate some sounds in speech. The speech may sound different but is still understandable. This may to be considered to an acceptable standard.

If an individual is unable to make themselves understood and has to use hand gestures and write notes this would not be to an acceptable standard.

Consider these things

You should consider:

• an individual’s ability to find the words they want to say
• an individual’s ability to articulate sounds in speech
• an individual’s ability to understand what is being said to them and respond appropriately.

You should make a distinction between basic and complex verbal information.

For the purposes of daily living component activity 7, you should consider whether an individual satisfies all of the following:

• an ability to say short sentences such as ‘can I help you', ‘I would like tea please’ and understand short sentences/instructions ‘could you pass me the bottle?’, ‘stay away from the painted wall’
• an ability to understand basic verbal information given to them
• complex verbal information – an ability to say longer sentences, such as: ‘I would like tea please, just a splash of milk and no sugar, as I always have sweeteners with me for when I go out’
• an ability to understand longer sentences and instructions, such as ‘please come into the room, take a seat on the chair to the left and take out your paperwork’
• an ability to understand the complex verbal information given to them

Health conditions affecting speech

The scope of daily living component activity 7 considers health conditions where an individual’s ability to speak has been affected, including but not limited to the following:

• a stroke, causing word-finding difficulty or difficulty articulating words to make themselves understood
• oesophageal cancer, causing difficulty in making themselves understood
• brain injury, resulting in words in the wrong order, for example
• significant shortness of breath

This list is not exhaustive and the use of aids and appliances and/or communication support may be considered.

Hearing

You should consider:

• an individual’s ability to hear. One ear with no restrictions may be considered sufficient for the purpose daily living component activity 7 to be able to hear
• If an individual uses a hearing aid/s or cochlear implant/s, the aid should be relied upon to be able to hear
• without using the hearing aid or cochlear implant, the individual would not be able to hear. A hearing aid or cochlear implant should only be regarded as an aid if it’s necessary for an individual to hear to an acceptable standard

Daily living component activity 7 descriptors

The daily living component activity 7 descriptors describe 5 levels of functional ability to complete the activity:

1. Can express and understand verbal information unaided.
2. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to speak or hear.
3. Needs communication support to be able to express or understand complex verbal information.
4. Needs communication support to be able to express or understand basic verbal information.
5. Cannot express or understand verbal information at all even with communication support. (ADP regs, Schedule 1 Part 2 -  Daily Living Activities, Activity (7))

Meaning of terms

Basic verbal information

Basic verbal information is information conveyed in a simple sentence in an individual’s native language. For example:

• ‘can I help you?’
• ‘I would like tea, please’
• ‘I came home today’
• ‘the time is 3 o’clock’

Complex verbal information

Complex verbal information is information conveyed in either more than one sentence or one complicated sentence, in an individual’s native language. For example:

‘I would like tea please, just a splash of milk and no sugar, as I always have sweeteners with me for when I go out.’

Verbal information

Verbal information is information that is spoken and received aurally.

Communication support

Communication support means receiving support from either:

• someone trained or experienced in communicating with people with specific communication needs (for example, through a BSL interpreter)
• someone directly experienced in communicating with the individual themselves (for example, a family member or carer)

An individual who cannot express or understand verbal information and would need communication support to do so should receive the appropriate descriptor for daily living component activity 7, even if they do not have access to this support.

For example, a deaf person who cannot communicate verbally and cannot use sign language might need communication support to support them in another way even if they do not routinely have such help.

An individual who has combined sight and hearing loss may connect, communicate and experience the world differently. The approach to support may vary.

Lip reading and texting

Lip reading is not considered an acceptable way to interpret verbal communication.

The ability to text is not considered an acceptable way to interpret verbal communication.

Types of communication support

Communication support can include but is not limited to the following:

• British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter
• Tactile British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter
• electronic note-taker
• lip-speaker
• visual information such as symbols, photographs and pictures, letters and words

Consider aids and appliances

You should consider whether an individual needs an aid or appliance for the purpose of an activity. In doing so, you should distinguish between:

• an aid or appliance that an individual needs to use, or could reasonably be expected to need to use, in order to carry out the activity safely, reliably, repeatedly and in a timely manner
• an aid or appliance that an individual may be using or wish to use because it makes it easier to carry out the activity safely, reliably, repeatedly and in a timely manner.

An aid or appliance is not required in the latter.

(Link to reliability criteria in overview of decision making.)

An individual may use an aid or appliance to assist them in completing this activity and this may mean that they satisfy daily living component activity 7 descriptor B, which is covered later.

If someone chooses not to use an aid or appliance

Where an individual chooses not to use an aid or appliance that they could reasonably be expected to use and would enable them to carry out the activity without assistance, they may be considered as needing an aid or appliance rather than a higher level of support.

What activity 7 does not cover

The following are not usually considered to be in scope for daily living component activity 7:

• any restriction that comes from a difficulty to engage with people as this is covered in daily living component activity 9 
• any mental health condition symptoms, unless this leads to an impact on an individual’s cognitive abilities
• a need to remember and retain what is being said. There is no requirement for an individual to remember an instruction given to them once the instruction has been understood.