The purpose of this article is to provide a commentary on Harding et al.'s article about the involvement of people with learning disabilities in university teaching and conference presentations.
The article reviews research into communication strengths and needs and into communication partnerships between service users and members of staff with a view to identifying communication barriers to the involvement of people with learning disabilities.
The generally poor communication environments in which people are supported are likely to limit opportunities for involvement.
It is suggested that increased involvement is likely to result from increased quality of daily communication. This may best occur as part of general service‐wide approaches to improving service quality, such as person‐centred active support.
