The results add to the evidence that the delivery of indirect speech and language therapy interventions to people with learning disabilities is a complex activity demanding specialist skills from SLTs. The findings suggest that these should include expertise in professional collaborative and relational skills, and training methods and strategies. Action research is needed to test the validity of the findings and document their impact on indirect interventions in day-to-day practice. More research is needed on the effectiveness of modelling or demonstration as a training technique with carers.

Summary This paper describes an attempt to gather information about the vocabulary needs of a sample of people with learning difficulties in order to inform the content of local augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) resources and training programmes. The participants were staff members working in a range of local day care and residential services who were asked to record topics of conversation in diaries. The results were analysed in terms of the frequency of topic areas similar to those described by Maslow's model of human need. The influences on the development of vocabularies for AAC programmes and philosophies current in services for adults with learning difficulties are briefly discussed. The approaches of two of perhaps the most widely used resources (i.e. Makaton and Signalong) are described in the context of their rationale for vocabulary content. The results of the present study suggest that Physical Needs and Function were the most frequent topic areas for conversation. There were far fewer conversations recorded for Social and Emotional topics. Flexible topic‐based frameworks for AAC programmes are suggested as a model that might be able to respond to individual and local vocabulary needs more readily than any one prescribed vocabulary.