Ho, Ho, Ho Holiday Conversations

Holiday time is an exciting time for everyone: celebrations, food, and time with loved ones. With many families and friends coming together and reuniting, often after long periods of time, come many loud group conversations. These conversations can feel quite overwhelming to some people, especially those with acquired brain injuries (ABI). Many clients with ABI find it difficult to attend to the conversations, keep up and/or add meaningful information to the conversation, or remember what has been discussed.

Some tips for keeping up in group conversation:

• Prepare. If you anticipate that it will be a long night, take a proper rest and cognitively prepare yourself. This could include deep, relaxation breathing or going for a brisk walk.
• If you are nervous that people are going to be asking you about your injury, plan a script ahead of time and try to re-direct the conversation back to the speaker. This will help you feel more comfortable and confident, knowing that you have anticipated this exchange in advance. E.g., “It’s been a long year but things are moving along, thank you. And how is Johnny enjoying college?”
• Try and eliminate background noise– if you are hosting the party, keep the noise to a minimum e.g., turn music low, turn off the television. If you are attending a party, ask the hostess if they do not mind to turn down the volume.
• Seating is important. Try and sit close to the person you feel comfortable conversing with. Try and seat yourself away from distractions e.g., away from the kitchen, or washroom.
• If you are finding it difficult to carry on a large conversation, try and create a smaller sub-group conversation. Smaller conversations are much easier to maintain and require less brain energy, than those larger, louder ones.
• If you are having trouble concentrating, ask 1-2 people if you can go in the other room to talk. It may be easier to have a productive conversation when you have decreased the amount of distractions.
• Repeat the question back to the listener. This helps you remember the information shared and also shows the listener that you are following the conversation. E.g., Q-“What do you plan on doing during the holidays?” A-“What do I plan on doing during the holidays? Well this week….”
• Summarize the information back to the listener to confirm your understanding. E.g., “So you are leaving to Mexico next week and going with the family for 7 days. What a nice time!”
• If you are stuck and are having trouble keeping the conversation going, transition to another topic. You can use the surrounding context if you are having difficulty choosing a new topic, such as commenting on the food, decorations, host or hostess, holiday plans.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for repetition! Everyone needs clarification sometimes, and your participation matters.

 Use these strategies to help communication during the holiday season! The Speech Therapy Centres of Canada hopes to make your holiday conversations enjoyable and successful. Speak with your S-LP for more social communication strategies.

 Ashleigh Wishen, M.H.Sc. S-LP (C)

Speech-Language Pathologist, Reg. CASLPO

 

The Speech Therapy Centres of Canada Ltd.

www.speechtherapycentres.com

 

Advertisement

Causes of speech and language disorders: Some answers to parent’s “why’s”

When parents walk through our door, they often want to know ‘WHY’ their child is not understanding and talking like other children; ‘WHY’ they aren’t pronouncing sounds like others; or ‘WHY’ they’re stuttering. Listed below are some factors that are known to predispose or precipitate speech and language disorders.

Neurological factors: Specific areas in the brain control our speech and language functions. Understanding what others say to us, expressing our thoughts and needs, remembering details of what was said, reading, and writing are all controlled by regions in the brain. There is evidence in the literature to suggest that children with language disorders may have a neurological involvement contributing to their speech and language difficulties. This means that there may be obvious or subtle differences in the brain which makes the child susceptible to a language disorder. No one pattern of brain architecture has been consistently shown in all individuals with language impairments, which makes this all still a bit of a mystery.

Motor and Sensory factors: Our senses serve as channels for us to perceive the external environment. Be it our sense of vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell; they offer us with different ways to perceive things from the external environment. If any of these senses are not functioning optimally, it would limit the essential information that we receive from our environment. For example, children with vision or hearing problems will not be able to use those senses to see by reading, or hear someone speaking in their environment, making them more susceptible to a speech or language disorder. Having adequate motor skills is also essential to speech and language development. Early on, children move around and explore their environment. This exploration fosters early language and cognitive development as they are exposed to new ideas and vocabulary. Children who have limited motor abilities may be at a disadvantage because of not being able to actively explore their environment. Adequate motor abilities are also required for the movement of the voice and oral structures (lips, teeth, tongue etc.) required for speech. Thus, any difficulty with speaking movements may impact a child’s speech and language development.

Cognitive: Intact cognition (the ability to think, know, perceive, judge, reason etc.) is an important foundation on which we build our speech and language skills. Vice versa, developing our speech and language skills helps us improve our cognitive abilities. Hence, children with cognitive challenges may be at risk for developing speech and language disorders. These children may have trouble associating different words with their meanings, remembering words, recognizing patterns and sorting words into different categories, and learning new concepts in general.

Genetic factors: Speech and language disorders tend to run in families, suggesting a possible genetic involvement in causing these disorders. However, it is also true that many people with speech/language disorders’ children do not have any difficulties, and that children with speech/language disorders have no family history of it in the past.

Environmental factors: Environmental information is key in fostering speech and language development. Providing a language rich environment with an adequate amount of stimulation is necessary to support children in developing age-appropriate speech and language skills. Children who have a less language rich environment and stimulation may be at risk for developing speech and language disorders.

Acquired factors: Some individuals may acquire speech and language skills as per typical milestones and then lose some of these skills due to an acquired injury or illness. Some examples of these include a traumatic brain injury, infections such as meningitis, tumors, strokes, etc.

It is important to note that this list is not exhaustive, but is an overview of some of the reasons we may see speech-language disorders.

If you are concerned about  your child’s speech and language development, see a Speech-Language Pathologist to address your concerns.

Nisha Balakrishnan M.A. SLP, Reg. CASLPO

Speech-Language Pathologist

 

The Speech Therapy Centres of Canada

www.speechtherapycentres.com

 

Reference: Paul, R. (2007). Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence- Assessment and Intervention. (3rd ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby Inc.

Exercise Your Brain

The body undergoes many changes as we age.  As kids, humans typically grow taller, get stronger, and learn.  Our brain is made up of little things called neurons which connect and essentially “talk” to each other to make our brain function.  We start out with thousands.  At age three we have approximately 15000.  Then by the time we’re adults, we’re down to about half the neurons we were born with.  What has happened is that our brain has recognized which areas are being used the most and devoted more of its energy there, cutting back on other areas.  As humans age, our thought processes get slower which can have an effect on our language.  The words can be harder find.  We need extra time to respond to what is being said.  We are slower to respond.  The thought of losing half our brain by the time we’re adults is pretty depressing…

So how can we combat our aging brain?  Good news.  Recent research is suggesting our brains can change.  If you work hard at strengthening the connections you have, not only might they become stronger, you may even build new connections.  So put your brain to the test, and add mental exercises to your physical exercise regimen.  Build some new connections!  Here are some suggestions on how:

• Play word games: Scrabble, Boggle, Scattergories, Catchphrase, Taboo etc.  These expand the way you think about letters and words.  Notice how after you have played a few rounds, you have improved.  That’s your brain in action .
• Try to learn a new language:  Even the act of trying causes your brain to think differently than you normally would, therefore, exercising your brain.
• Read! You’ll be exposed to new words, words you may not hear often and will open your brain to new ideas.  Reading stimulates thinking.  If you usually read one type of book, try another to give your brain that extra challenge.
• Try to remember: Ever notice how we no longer remember phone numbers?  How we rely on all our gadgets to remind us of things?  Take a step back from the gadgets and focus on remembering.  Use mnemonic devices like acronyms to help you remember (for example: Never Eat Shredded Wheat…for North East South West) Challenge your brain to be your best gadget.

 Jana Zalmanowitz M.Cl.Sc

Speech-Language Pathologist (C) 

 

The Speech Therapy Centres of Canada

www.speechtherapycentres.com