1. Thinking pictures alone make something Easy Read
Many services add symbols but keep the same complicated text.
❌ Example
“Patients must contact the practice to arrange an appointment.”
✅ Better
“Phone the dentist to make an appointment.”
2. Using long sentences
Long sentences make information harder to process.
❌
“You should attend the practice at the allocated appointment time.”
✅
“Come to the dentist at your appointment time.”
3. Using formal or professional words
Words like appointment allocation, service provision, premises confuse readers.
Use everyday words instead.
. Too much information on one page
Large paragraphs can overwhelm people.
Better practice:
✔ One idea per sentence
✔ Space between lines
✔ Short sections
5. Pictures that do not clearly match the text
Sometimes the picture and words do not mean the same thing, which causes confusion.
Example:
Picture = person talking
Text = complicated medical explanation
6. Text that is too small
Easy Read should use large clear fonts.
Recommended:
• Size 14–16 minimum
• Clear fonts (Arial, Calibri)
7. No involvement from people with learning disabilities
The best Easy Read is created with people, not just for people.
Self-advocacy groups — like the ones you worked with — are very important here.
8. Too many ideas in one sentence
People may need information step by step.
Example:
❌
“Patients should telephone the surgery to book an appointment and attend promptly.”
✅
Phone the dentist.
Book an appointment.
Go to the dentist.
9. Not explaining what support is available
People may need to know they can:
• bring a support person
• ask for extra time
• ask questions
10. Not testing the document
Good Easy Read is tested with people who will use it.
This is something many organisations still forget.
Key Message for Staff
Accessible information is not just about compliance.
It is about:
✔ dignity
✔ independence
✔ understanding
✔ equal access
💡 From what you've shared about your work with self-advocacy groups, you could even include a very powerful line in your training:
“People with learning disabilities are often the best experts on what makes information accessible.”
If you'd like, I can also help you create something very strong for your course or book:
“The 5-Level Easy Read Model (Basic → Gold Standard).”
It shows the difference between:
Not accessible
Symbol only
Basic Easy Read
Good Easy Read
Co-produced Easy Read
Good Practice: Tracking and Reminding Patients About Appointments
Some people need regular appointments, for example:
dental cleaning every 3 months
regular health checks
medication reviews
therapy appointments
Services should track these and send reminders automatically.
Example (Your Dentist Situation)
🦷 You need a clean every 3 months.
📅 The dental clinic tracks this in their system.
📨 They send the appointment reminder.
In your case they send it to your Mum, which works well for you.
Best Practice for Services
The service should ask the person:
“How would you like to receive appointment reminders?”
Options could include:
📨 Letter
📧 Email
📱 Text message
☎ Phone call
👨👩👧 Sent to a parent or support person
The key is personal choice.
Easy Read Example for Patients
Your Dentist Appointment
🦷 You need to see the dentist every 3 months.
📅 The dentist will make your next appointment.
📨 We will send you a reminder.
You can choose how we remind you.
You can choose:
📧 Email
📱 Text message
📨 Letter
☎ Phone call
👨👩👧 We can also send it to your support person.
Why This Matters
People with:
learning disabilities
dyslexia
ADHD
memory difficulties
anxiety
may find it hard to remember appointments.
Reminder systems help people:
✔ attend appointments
✔ stay healthy
✔ feel supported
✔ avoid missed appointments
A Strong Line You Could Use in Training
“Accessibility is not only about the appointment itself — it is also about helping people remember and attend it.”
Your example is actually very powerful training material, because it shows the difference between:
❌ expecting the person to remember everything
✅ services building accessible reminder systems
If you like, I can also help you write a short section for your book or training called:
“Why People Miss Appointments – and How Services Can Fix It.”
It’s a topic that doctors, dentists, and universities often misunderstand, and your lived experience would make that section very strong.
Yes, that happened to a lot of people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many dental services in the United Kingdom were closed or only seeing emergency cases for long periods. Regular check-ups and hygiene appointments were often cancelled or delayed.
Because of that, many people later needed more dental work, such as:
extra cleanings
fillings
gum treatment
check-ups to catch problems that had been missed
Your experience is actually a very useful real example for training staff.
Example Training Point: When Appointments Are Disrupted
During COVID:
🦷 Many dentist appointments were cancelled.
📅 People could not have regular check-ups.
⏳ Problems were not found early.
🔧 Some people later needed more treatment.
Why Regular Appointments Matter
For some people, dentists recommend more frequent visits, such as every 3 months for cleaning.
This can happen if someone has:
gum disease
previous dental treatment
higher plaque build-up
certain medical conditions
Missing those visits can cause bigger problems later.
What Services Should Learn From This
Services should:
✔ keep records of regular appointments
✔ automatically rebook the next visit
✔ send clear reminders
✔ ask how the person prefers reminders (text, email, letter, support person)
This helps prevent people missing important care.
Simple Easy Read Example
Going to the Dentist
🦷 I see the dentist every 3 months.
📅 The dentist books my next visit.
📨 The dentist sends me a reminder.
😊 This helps keep my teeth healthy.
A Strong Real-Life Line You Could Use in Your Book or Training
“When regular appointments stop, small health problems can become bigger problems.”
Your experience actually shows why accessible reminder systems and regular follow-ups are so important.
If you'd like, I can also help you write a short personal reflection box for your book or training materials called something like:
“My Experience With Dental Care During COVID.”
Those real-life stories are very powerful in disability awareness training.
Here is a personal reflection box you could include in your book, training material, or awareness course. I’ve written it so it can easily be copied into Microsoft Word and adapted if you want.
Personal Reflection: My Experience With Dental Care During COVID
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health services changed how they worked. In the United Kingdom, a lot of dental appointments were cancelled or delayed. Dentists were often only able to see people with emergencies.
This meant many people missed their regular check-ups and treatments.
I usually need to see the dentist regularly for a clean every three months. However, because of COVID, some of those appointments could not happen. When regular care stops, small problems can sometimes become bigger problems.
Later on, I needed more dental work than I would normally have needed.
Now I live in the United States, and my dental clinic is very good at tracking my appointments. Because I need regular cleaning, the clinic keeps a record and sends reminders. They send the appointment information to my Mum so we can keep track of the visits.
This system helps make sure I do not miss important appointments.
My experience shows why regular appointments and good reminder systems are important. For some people, remembering appointments can be difficult, especially if they have disabilities, health conditions, or busy lives.
Services can help by:
keeping track of regular appointments
booking the next visit automatically
sending reminders by letter, email, text message, or phone
allowing reminders to be sent to a support person if needed
Accessible systems help people stay healthy and prevent problems from getting worse.
Key Message
Regular health appointments are important. When services support people with reminders and clear communication, it helps everyone get the care they need.
If you like, I can also help you create a very powerful follow-up section for your training or book called:
“5 Simple Changes Health Services Can Make to Help Disabled People Attend Appointments.”
It would connect perfectly with the dentist, doctor, and accessibility examples you’ve been discussing.
Thank you for sharing that. What you experienced was something many people went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially people living alone or people with disabilities. Your example is actually very powerful for training because it shows how support systems can suddenly disappear during emergencies.
Here is a section you could include in your book or training.
Personal Reflection: Living Alone During COVID
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people found their lives suddenly changed. In the United Kingdom, lockdown rules meant people could not travel freely, many services closed, and support systems stopped.
Like many people, I was living on my own at the time. My Mum wanted to travel to support me, but she was not allowed to travel because of the restrictions.
Before COVID, my Aunt’s friend used to come and help clean my home. During the pandemic she was not allowed to work, so that support stopped as well.
At the same time, many support services were closed or limited. This meant people who normally relied on help from family, friends, or community services suddenly had much less support.
Everyone was affected by COVID in different ways. However, people with disabilities were often at greater risk because they may rely more on regular support, services, and healthcare.
For many people, this created extra challenges, such as:
managing daily tasks without help
feeling isolated or lonely
missing important appointments
losing regular support services
This experience shows how important it is for services and communities to think about how to support people during emergencies, especially people who may already face barriers in everyday life.
Key Message
Emergencies affect everyone, but they can affect people with disabilities even more if support systems disappear.
5 Simple Changes Health Services Can Make to Help Disabled People Attend Appointments
1️⃣ Automatic reminders
Send reminders by text, email, letter, or phone.
2️⃣ Choice of communication
Ask people how they prefer to receive information.
3️⃣ Support person contact option
Allow reminders to be sent to a family member or supporter.
4️⃣ Flexible appointments
Offer longer appointments or quieter times if needed.
5️⃣ Clear and accessible information
Use Easy Read, plain language, and clear instructions.
Your real-life examples like this are very valuable for training because they show what policies and services look like from the person’s perspective, not just from the organisation’s point of view.
If you’d like, I can also help you write a very strong section called:
“What COVID Taught Us About Disability Support Systems.”
That topic connects really well with everything you're writing about access, advocacy, and inclusion.
I understand why you feel strongly about that. Many people with disabilities felt that essential support disappeared too quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in places like the United Kingdom where lockdowns and service closures were very strict.
From a disability rights perspective, a lot of advocates raised similar concerns. They argued that:
Support services are not optional for many disabled people.
Stopping them can affect health, safety, and independence.
Governments and services should have emergency plans to keep essential support running.
Many disability organisations said that during emergencies, services like:
personal support
home help
healthcare appointments
community support
should be treated as essential services, not something that can simply stop.
Your experience of:
family not being allowed to travel
support workers unable to work
services being closed
shows how quickly people can become isolated when support systems break down.
How this can be written constructively in training or a book
Instead of framing it only as blame, many disability advocates frame it like this:
Lesson from COVID
Governments and services must plan for emergencies so that disabled people do not lose essential support.
This includes:
emergency support plans
safe ways for carers to continue working
remote support options
travel exemptions for essential carers
better communication with disabled people
A strong line you could use
“Support services are not a luxury for disabled people. For many people, they are essential for daily living.”
Your experiences are actually very important evidence for improving policy and training, because they show what happens when systems are not designed with disabled people in mind during crises.
If you'd like, I can also help you create a short section called:
“Why Disability Emergency Planning Matters.”
It’s something many governments and services are now trying to improve after what happened during COVID.
Exactly — what you experienced isn’t unique to people with disabilities. Many vulnerable groups were affected by the sudden loss of support during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
elderly people living alone
people with chronic health conditions
families with young children who rely on support services
people in mental health crisis
This shows a broader lesson: emergency planning must consider everyone who relies on support, not just the general population.
Here’s a draft section you could use for your book or training module:
Why Disability and Elderly Emergency Planning Matters
During COVID, many people lost support:
Disabled people could not see carers, family, or support workers
Elderly people could not get help with shopping, cleaning, or medical visits
Some families lost access to community services entirely
These disruptions showed that support systems are essential, not optional.
Key Lessons
1️⃣ Essential services must continue in emergencies
Services like personal care, home help, and medical appointments should be considered essential.
2️⃣ Flexible solutions are necessary
Remote support, travel exemptions, or temporary carers can help prevent gaps.
3️⃣ Communication is critical
People must know how their support will continue, and in what form.
4️⃣ Systems should track appointments and health needs
Automatic reminders and accessible communication help prevent people from missing important care.
5️⃣ Inclusive emergency planning benefits everyone
When services are planned with the needs of disabled and elderly people in mind, everyone in the community benefits.
Strong Message for Training or Advocacy
“Emergencies do not affect everyone equally. People who rely on support — disabled people, elderly people, and others — must always be considered essential.”
I
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