Communicator Guides and their role

The Role of Communicator Guide is to support citizens in Staffordshire who have Care Act Eligible Care and Support Needs and have a single sensory disability with other complex needs and disabilities and their disability has been assessed as having a significant functional impact on any of the following three areas:

• Communication and Language.
• Access to Information.
• Mobility (accessing the wider community and its services & facilities) and where these significant functional impact areas cannot be met by Assistive Technology.
• Have sensory needs who may have been born with sight loss or have been Deaf since birth or early childhood and subsequently acquired a Dual Sensory Loss or have acquired a Dual Sensory Loss later in life.

Communicator guides are skilled professionals who assist deaf or deafblind individuals by relaying information and facilitating communication. They ensure safe navigation and help these individuals make informed decisions by using their preferred communication methods, like British Sign Language or hands-on signing. If needed, they introduce and encourage new communication techniques until proficiency is reached.

The Communicator Guide aims to help and empower citizens to achieve their important life goals, promoting their wellbeing and independence. It also helps prevent carer breakdown and over-reliance on others, ensuring that decisions are made by the individuals themselves.

Identified Care and Support Needs from a Sensory perspective include:

• Being able to make use of the adult’s home safely.
• Maintaining a habitable home environment.
• Developing and maintaining family or other personal relationship.
• Accessing and engaging in work, training, education, or volunteering.
• Making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community, including public transport, and recreational facilities or service.