When preparing for an NDIS plan reassessment, families often spend time gathering reports, reviewing goals and thinking about the support a person needs.

For someone with speech, language or communication difficulties, one important question is: Do the reports really explain how these difficulties affect their everyday life?

A person might have difficulty understanding instructions, explaining what has happened, following conversations or communicating with unfamiliar people. These challenges can influence far more than their ability to speak or answer questions. They can affect learning, relationships, independence and the ability to navigate everyday situations.

Yet these difficulties are not always obvious to other people, particularly when someone has developed ways of coping or has familiar people around them who help fill in the gaps.

Understanding what communication difficulties look like outside the assessment room is an important part of understanding a person's support needs.

Communication difficulties are not always obvious

When we think about communication difficulties, we might picture someone who struggles to pronounce words or has difficulty speaking. However, many communication difficulties are less visible.

A child might speak fluently but struggle to understand complex instructions or explain what happened during their day. A teenager might have difficulty following group conversations or recognising when someone is being indirect. An adult might communicate well with familiar people but struggle to explain their needs during appointments or at work.

In each case, the person may appear to communicate well in some situations, while experiencing considerable difficulty in others.

This can make communication needs easy to overlook. Speaking fluently does not necessarily mean someone understands everything they hear, can organise their thoughts easily or can communicate effectively in unfamiliar or demanding situations.

It is important to look beyond what a person can say and consider what they understand, how they process information and how they manage the communication demands placed on them.

How do communication difficulties affect everyday life?

Communication is woven into almost everything we do. We use it to understand expectations, solve problems, maintain relationships, make decisions and ask for help.

When communication is difficult, the effects can show up in many different ways.

At home

Imagine being given three instructions at once, such as getting ready, packing a bag and remembering to bring something important. If you have difficulty processing or remembering spoken information, keeping track of these steps may be challenging.

You might need instructions repeated, become confused about what to do next or rely on someone else to help you complete the task.

Similarly, a person who has difficulty explaining themselves may struggle to tell a family member what has gone wrong, describe how they are feeling or explain why they need help.

These situations can be frustrating for both the person and the people supporting them, particularly when the underlying communication difficulty is not recognised.

At school, university or work

Communication demands increase as people take on new responsibilities.

Students need to understand instructions, follow classroom discussions, explain their thinking and ask questions when they are unsure. At work, people may need to learn unfamiliar tasks, interpret feedback, clarify expectations and communicate with colleagues.

Someone who has difficulty understanding complex language may miss important information during a meeting. Someone who struggles to organise their thoughts may know what they want to say but find it difficult to explain their ideas clearly.

These difficulties can affect performance, confidence and independence, even when the person has the knowledge or ability to complete the task itself.

In friendships and relationships

Conversations involve much more than taking turns to speak. We need to follow what others are saying, understand their meaning, recognise when something has changed and respond in a way that keeps the interaction going.

For someone with social communication difficulties, these demands can be challenging. They may find group conversations difficult to follow, misunderstand implied meanings or struggle to work out how to enter a conversation.

Over time, repeated misunderstandings or difficult social experiences may affect their confidence and willingness to participate.

When communicating with unfamiliar people

Many people find it easier to communicate with someone who knows them well. Familiar people may understand their communication style, give them extra time or recognise what they mean when their message is unclear.

Unfamiliar people do not necessarily have this background knowledge.

A person may therefore manage well at home but have difficulty communicating with a new support worker, a health professional, a colleague or someone in the community. They may struggle to explain their needs, ask for clarification or speak up when something is wrong.

This is particularly important when considering a person's ability to advocate for themselves and participate in decisions that affect their life.

The support a person receives can hide how difficult things really are

Sometimes, people manage everyday activities because others have quietly adapted around their needs.

A parent might simplify instructions without thinking about it. A teacher might repeat information or check understanding regularly. A support worker might anticipate what a person needs before they have to explain it.

These adjustments can be extremely helpful. However, they can also make it difficult for others to appreciate how much support is required.

For example, an adult may appear to manage their daily routine independently, but a closer look might reveal that a family member reminds them of appointments, explains unfamiliar information, helps them prepare for conversations and supports them to resolve misunderstandings.

The person is participating, but that participation may depend on assistance that is not immediately visible.

Understanding the support already being provided is therefore an important part of understanding a person's communication needs. It is also worth considering what happens when that support is unavailable or when the person encounters a new situation.

Why previous assessments may not tell the whole story

Previous assessments and diagnoses can provide valuable information. However, they may not fully capture a person's current circumstances or the practical consequences of their communication difficulties.

An assessment might identify difficulties understanding spoken language, remembering verbal information or organising sentences. These findings are useful, but they do not automatically explain how the person manages at home, interacts with others or responds to the demands of work or community life.

A person's needs may also change as they get older, take on new responsibilities or move into a different environment.

For example, communication difficulties that were once most noticeable in the classroom may become more apparent during the transition to employment or independent living. A person who has always relied on familiar family members may encounter new challenges when they need to communicate with unfamiliar people.

When preparing for a plan reassessment, it can be helpful to consider whether existing reports adequately describe the person's current communication profile and the support they need now.

What can a speech and language assessment contribute?

A speech and language assessment can help clarify a person's communication strengths and difficulties. Depending on their needs, this may involve assessing how they understand language, express ideas, remember verbal information, organise sentences or communicate in social situations.

Just as importantly, the findings can be considered alongside information about the person's everyday experiences.

This helps connect what is observed during assessment with the situations the person encounters in daily life. For example, difficulty understanding complex instructions may help explain why someone needs information broken into smaller steps. Difficulties organising spoken language may help explain why they struggle to report problems or communicate their needs clearly.

The aim is to build a clearer picture of the person, rather than relying on a diagnosis or a set of test scores alone.

For NDIS plan reassessments, this information may contribute to the broader evidence considered when reviewing a participant's circumstances and support needs. It does not guarantee a particular funding outcome, but it can help ensure that communication-related difficulties are clearly described.

Questions worth asking before a plan reassessment

If you are supporting someone with communication difficulties, it may be useful to reflect on a few questions:

• Are their communication difficulties clearly described in their existing reports?
• Do the reports explain how these difficulties affect everyday activities and relationships?
• Are there examples of situations in which the person needs additional support?
• Is the assistance they receive from family, educators, colleagues or support workers recognised?
• Do the reports reflect their current circumstances and the communication demands they face now?

If some of these questions are difficult to answer, it may be worth exploring whether further assessment or updated information would be helpful.

Every person's communication profile is different. Taking the time to understand how communication difficulties affect daily life can help families, support networks and professionals develop a more complete picture of the person and their needs.

At Exceed Speech, we are interested in understanding not just how a person communicates during an assessment, but how communication affects their life beyond it.