Adult ABELS is a structured language and communication screen designed to be used by police officers and practitioners in the criminal justice system to highlight when someone has difficulty with communication, and identify when they need additional support.
Adult ABELS can be used with teenagers and adults. It is not restricted to vulnerable witnesses; it can be used with individuals who are subject to an interview under caution.
Why is Adult ABELS needed?
Communication difficulties are often called a ‘hidden disability’ as people become very skilled at hiding their difficulties. They can be plausible communicators when talking about familiar, everyday topics and use a range of learnt behaviours such as using non-verbal skills (e.g. nodding and saying uh-huh at pertinent points) to mask any problems understanding. This means the police and other practitioners often do not recognise a person’s underlying communication issues which results in confusion in evidence and the criminal justice process.
Communication difficulties
Common difficulties with communication include:
- Reduced vocabulary knowledge
- Slow processing
- Difficulty with dates/time
- Poor chronology/sequencing
- Higher level language difficulties including understanding of humour, sarcasm etc.
A review by the prison reform trust identified that “between 20-30% of offenders have a learning difficulty or a learning disability that interferes with their ability to cope within the criminal justice system.” In addition to this, it is widely accepted that 60% of young people in the justice system have speech, language and communication needs (Royal College Speech Language Therapists RCSLT).
Structure of Adult ABELS
Adult ABELS consists of separate sections which are staged according to the level of communication difficulty the person has. The initial stage is conversation based which means it can be used effectively with any adult without the worry of someone feeling they are being patronised.
