Make sure you can see the person’s face clearly during communication.
Give the person as much time as they need to express themselves.
Be reassuring.
If the person is very difficult to understand because of dysarthria, don’t pretend to understand what they say. They will know you are pretending unless they also have cognitive impairments affecting awareness.
If you are not sure you have understood correctly what has been said, repeat back to the person what you think they said to clarify your understanding.
Ask questions requiring only yes/no responses. This can be helpful if the person’s speech is severely impaired.
Encourage the person to use gestures if possible.
If the person is able, encourage them to write down information, use the text function on a phone, use an alphabet chart or other form of augmentative and alternative communication.
Encourage the person to slow their speech down if necessary and to use shorter sentences. This can sometimes make speech clearer.
Ensure communication takes place in a quiet area. This can make it easier to hear and understand the person with dysarthria.
Please try to make sure that the person’s non-verbal communication is not misinterpreted and inaccurate states of mind etc are not ascribed to the person.
Give the person who has dysarthria every opportunity to be included in normal, everyday interaction to help minimize potential feelings of isolation.
