Intensive Interaction

What is it?

Some people with a learning disability may not understand or use speech. They may also find social skills difficult. For example, they might:

• Avoid eye contact
• Struggle to take turns in conversations
• Behave passively: waiting for things to happen without initiating
• Be very active: making it hard for others to know how to connect or engage

These behaviours can be signs that someone is at an early stage of communication development.

What does it aim to do?

Intensive Interaction helps to:

• Encourage communication skills
• Build better relationships with the person

To achieve this, the people supporting the individual (such as professionals or family members) adapt to the person’s communication needs and personal style.

The focus is not on changing the person with a learning disability, but on changing how we approach communication with them.

Shifting the approach

Rather than seeing the person as ‘hard to reach’, we aim to:

• Make ourselves easier for them to engage with
• Reduce our use of speech
• Mirror or join in some of their behaviours
• Show interest in their interests
• Engage with them on their terms