In the field of speech-language pathology, we often witness family members transitioning into a new role role of caregiving. In the hospital, mothers spend every moment by their child’s side as do wives for their husbands. In the clinical or school setting, parents learn of their child’s diagnosis and dedicate themselves to a new life of scheduled therapy appointments. Whether the diagnosis is brain injury, stroke, or autism, the family’s role changes. With those changes, here are some important ideas to keep in mind, courtesy of Dr. Alex Lickerman’s blog “Happiness in this world”.
The Caregiver’s Manifesto
1. Care for yourself first
Caregivers routinely make their first priority taking care of someone else–which is why they often need to be reminded to take care of themselves. Caregivers ignore their own needs not just at their own peril, but at the peril of the people for whom they care. Figure out whatever you need to do to maintain balance – a daily walk by yourself, a good book to enjoy at the end of the day – and do it.
2. Preserve whatever you can of your original relationship
Just because your spouse/sibling/child/friend requires care doesn’t mean either of you want to change the nature of your relationship – but that is still often what happens. It is extremely difficult when your spouse, for example, requires help with basic self-care tasks for the balance of power that exists in all relationships not to shift toward the caregiver. But both of you retain the power to create moments in which your old ways of relating are captured. Exhaust your creativity to retain whatever elements of the way you previously related to your loved one. The way you used to connect isn’t the only way possible. Find new ways that work for you both.
Read More »
When I saw the movie Avatar, one of the (many) things that fascinated me was the Na’vi language, created just for the movie. In 2005, while Avatar was still in scripted form, James Cameron decided that the residents of Pandora should have their own complete and consistent language. He contacted Paul Frommer, who holds a PhD in linguistics from University of Southern California, to take on the task of developing the language of Na’vi. Here is some information about how the language of Na’vi was developed, and what the language is like.
According to Frommer, the first step in the creation of the language was to develop its sound system. Frommer created three sets of meaningless words for James Cameron to choose from: one with tonal distinctions, one with varying vowel lengths, and one with ejective consonants. It turned out Cameron loved the ejectives, so the sound system was further developed based on that choice. Once he determined the phonetic inventory (e.g., which sounds would be included/excluded), then he determined what combinations of sounds would be allowed. Read More »
This is a review paper from the Journal of Advanced Nursing about the effectiveness of dysphagia screening: “Bedside screening tests vs. videofluoroscopy or fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing to detect dysphagia in patients with neurological disorders: systematic review.”
Abstract
Title. Bedside screening tests vs. videofluoroscopy or fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing to detect dysphagia inpatients with neurological disorders: systematic review.
Aim. This paper is a report of a systematic review conducted to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of bedside screening methods for detecting dysphagia in patients with neurological disorders.
Background. Dyspaghia affects 22–65% of patients with neurological conditions. Although there is a large variety of bedside tests to detect dysphagia, it is unknown which have the best psychometric properties and are feasible for nurses to use.
Read More »
Recently I had the opportunity to join a team from various hospitals in San Diego who go to Mexicali, Mexico twice a year to perform surgery and offer treatment for children with craniofacial disorders.
From a perspective of speech-language pathology, we were involved in many parts of the process from beginning to end. Starting with assessment, we helped determine whether a child (or adult) was a candidate for surgery. Therapy was provided to children who were not candidates, and families of those who did receive surgery were educated and provided with tools to help their children practice post-op. There was a wonderful talk provided by a speech language pathologist for any parent who wished to attend, with the focus of how to facilitate language development in young children. A question and answer period at the end allowed parents to inquire about suspected speech and language delays/disorders in their children or others that they know, and ways in which they can take action.
This trip taught me not only specifics about cleft lip/palate and the many related disorders, but also about compassion within the medical field and the joys of seeing young adults who have come back each year since they received surgery with this team as an infant. Also amazing was to see the adults who received a surgery they have waited their whole lives for, or families who have traveled across Mexico for these services. It was a powerful experience, and one that I hope to be a part of in the future!
Here is a great new article published on ASHA web about bilingualism: “Consequences for language, cognition, development and the brain”.
“Every year, thousands of middle- and upper-class American children study a foreign language for enrichment. These children, their parents, and their teachers are guided by the belief that knowing another language “is good for you.” At the same time (and sometimes in the same schools) thousands of other children—usually from immigrant and lower-class backgrounds—are discouraged from and sometimes forbidden to speak their native language. Their families are told that communication in their native languages will prevent them from mastering English and that raising children with more than one language will “confuse” them and have long-lasting, detrimental effects.
Given these two contradictory perspectives, what does research say about the consequences of bilingualism?”
[Read more via ASHA]
Marian, V., Faroqi-Shah, Y., Kaushanskaya, M., Blumenfeld, H., Sheng, L. (2009, Oct. 13). Bilingualism: Consequences for language, cognition, development, and the brain. The ASHA Leader, 14(13), 10-13.
In the field of speech-language pathology, we often witness family members transitioning into a new role role of caregiving. In the hospital, mothers spend every moment by their child’s side as do wives for their husbands. In the clinical or school setting, parents learn of their child’s diagnosis and dedicate themselves to a new life of scheduled therapy appointments. Whether the diagnosis is brain injury, stroke, or autism, the family’s role changes. With those changes, here are some important ideas to keep in mind, courtesy of Dr. Alex Lickerman’s blog “Happiness in this world”.
