Communication Support Persons

Some people, not everyone may require someone who knows them well to assist with communication.  Depending on the situation and the individual’s needs, support persons can play different roles. Click here for more information. 

A communication assistant conveys messages as generated, directed and
/ or approved by the individual and assists if the individual’s messages
are not understood or if they require support to understand spoken or written information, or complete and sign forms.  To learn how to assist with communication, go to: Communication assistance course

A proxy communicator or advocate communicates messages that are not necessarily generated by the individual but what they think the individual would communicate if they could.

An informal decision supporter assists an individual to make a decision. Learn about decision-making support.

 A substitute decision maker makes decisions for and with input from an individual based on the person’s will and preferences. Learn about decision-making support.

A communication intermediary is a speech-language pathologist with specific additional training from CDAC and CAJus and only works in police, legal and justice settings. Find out more about communication intermediaries.