Surprisingly simple way caregivers can help speech

How caregivers can help survivor speak

We want to help.  If someone is struggling to get a word out, our first impulse is to help them. And we have, with the immediate goal of getting that word out. But the longer term goal is to help the survivor recover. And to do that, it helps if they are more independent & confident.
 

I'm noticing how well you're interpreting/intuiting what the survivor is trying to say, and I think it's wonderful that you can do that. However, it's good practice for them to get the words out themselves, even if it takes longer. Our goals in the session are to get them more comfortable using their words, so it's ok if the conversation is slower; that's just real-world practice. The survivor needs a lot more time to communicate.

 Valerie K. , Speech-Language Pathologist
 

Awkward Silence

I know it can sometime feel like an awkward silence, but...

Melissa Kurrle, Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)

If you wait til the survivor wants help, you'll create space for a number of benefits:

• They may get the word out on their own and be motivated
  That will likely be incredibly motivating: I call it Discovery Euphoria. Our brains like a challenge. It's why people work on crossword puzzles and play games.
  I just worked with a survivor last week who laughed when he got the wrong answer.  He could see how close he was and was loving it, even though it was challenging.
  
  
  • Research behind this:
    "For the first time we have shown that the hub of the brain’s reward system,  ‘lit up’ with increased activation both when problems were solved and when people reported a strong Aha! experience.  From this research study.
• The harder they work to answer more likely they are to retain it, even if you eventually give them the answer. This is based on a concept called Desirable Difficulties. The research shows that if make things a little difficult, you "etch" it into their mind, essentially wearing a neurological groove.
• You are empowering them by letting them choose when you help.
  If you help them too much, it can cause Learned Helplessness, where they learn to depend on you doing it for them. They learn it's easier to let you do it for them. If, however, they know that you are available to help when they need it, they'll push themselves much closer to their frustration point because they know you're there to "catch" them.

You're both retraining your brains

Most  family members I've worked with want to jump in and help their loved ones by giving them answers/finishing sentences to make things easier. if you let the survivor process and work on word retrieval themselves without interruption, that is where progress is made. I know it it can be uncomfortable for to be silent and wait.  It’s hard but there is a lot of value in letting the patient “struggle”, especially if we know they have a way to ask for help when they need it.

Brittany Thompson, Speech-Language Pathologist

 

Speech & Language recovery is literally rewiring the neural pathways in their brain (see my article on how your brain rewires). Likewise, if you are changing your habit and giving them more time, you are rewiring your brain. And it's darn hard. You'll fail in the beginning. That's Ok. You're probably going to have to try again and again before you get better. Just. Like. Them.

It's hard. I know!

I know it's hard because it's a taken me a very long time to improve. I applied something similar with my daughter while mountain biking with her on a trail. I saw she might benefit from a technique I'd learned years before. But I didn't just give her the technique. That would be inflicting my knowledge on her.  Instead, I just hinted at it and then left space for her to ask for the help when she was ready.

I said "Hey, there's a trick to rolling over those logs". And then I waited. And waited.

Five agonizing minutes later she asked "What's the trick?". She was much more receptive to the suggestion because she asked for it.

Try this at home

 

Let me know how this works for you.