The effects of communication impairment following Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) can be socially disabling and will affect not just the person with the injury but their family and friends too. Communication impairment may affect the person’s ability to:

  • Have conversations.
  • Participate in family/social events.
  • Share information.
  • Enjoy jokes.
  • Explain and talk about worries and problems.
  • Express choices, wants and needs.
  • Enjoy T.V., radio, films, books, newspapers etc.
  • Deal with the communicative demands of everyday household tasks such as bill paying, arranging insurance, organising the shopping etc.
  • Return to work or gain future employment.
  • Organise, claim and manage benefits and pensions.
  • Get out and about.
  • Build and maintain social relationships.  Interpersonal difficulties may have a significant social impact.
  • Maintain the role in the family e.g. caring for dependants, provide support, earn money.
  • Keep friendships.
  • Maintain feelings of autonomy.

The impact of communication impairment may contribute to feelings of grief, loss, anger, frustration, confusion, anxiety etc which the person may struggle to express.

Following ABI, there is a significant risk of increasing social isolation and exclusion for the person with communication impairment and their family. To support the person with communication impairment, their family and friends, it is helpful to recognise the social consequences and implement strategies to reduce the negative impact, for example, by:

  • Providing reassurance.
  • Provision of clear and accurate information about brain injury and communication impairment.
  • Accessing befriending services and any other sources of social and practical support for the person and their family (e.g. Headway).
  • Ensuring the person is able to access and enjoy as many social opportunities as possible within and outwith their home.
  • Ensuring that recommendations for supporting the person’s communication are consistently implemented. Refer back to guidelines provided by the persons Speech and Language Therapist, Clinical Psychologist, Occupational Therapist etc.  Also refer to the various ‘How to Help’ suggestions throughout the Communication Problems section of this website.
  • Helping the person to communicate as many choices and decisions as possible (within their capacity to do so).
  • Giving the person and their family the opportunity and support to express their feelings, fears, hopes etc.