3 replies to this topic

[Califanna]

Of those of you who have a spouse, partner, friend or child who has suffered a brain injury and they are having difficulty with the speaking, how do you communicate back and forth with them?

I have a new acquaintance but the biggest problem is understanding what he is trying to communicate given his choice of words always don't fit what he is trying to say. The last time he saw a speech pathologist was over 15 years ago and I wonder if their might be new treatments for him to try now that might help.

I was with him today and I know he was as frustrated as me given he wasn't able to tell me what he really wanted to talk about during our conversation. It was a guessing game that I fear, I failed at miserably.

I would appreciate any suggestions regarding new treatments or a way I can help him communicate with others.

[wheeliebear75]

After the 1st 5yrs for a TBI is = to the 18mo-2yr mark for SCI....that's where any "improvements" will be made. BUT...this isn't to say that we don't keep learning & this will include you & your friend. Is it how he talks (slurred speech, etc.) OR is it more that he's using the wrong words at the wrong times or something along those lines?

Like just last night or the night before I was telling my B/F about something goin on in the forums (he's joined as blessed2haveHER). I started telling him the wrong part. I was telling him all about someone's husband without telling him what the problem was or who's husband this was or where the relevance was. He's learned over the years to stop me and ask me certain questions to get the story from the beginning....but this is something he's LEARNED to do.

SPEECH & TBI can be harder in some ways because we tend to loose our train of though in speech whereas not so much in on-line communications where we can look & see, read it aloud, & re-read it to be sure it's coherent & "proper" BEFORE we hit the "Enter" button or click "Post".

Gotta go; dinner & family game night.

[Califanna]

After the 1st 5yrs for a TBI is = to the 18mo-2yr mark for SCI....that's where any "improvements" will be made. BUT...this isn't to say that we don't keep learning & this will include you & your friend. Is it how he talks (slurred speech, etc.) OR is it more that he's using the wrong words at the wrong times or something along those lines?

Like just last night or the night before I was telling my B/F about something goin on in the forums (he's joined as blessed2haveHER). I started telling him the wrong part. I was telling him all about someone's husband without telling him what the problem was or who's husband this was or where the relevance was. He's learned over the years to stop me and ask me certain questions to get the story from the beginning....but this is something he's LEARNED to do.

SPEECH & TBI can be harder in some ways because we tend to loose our train of though in speech whereas not so much in on-line communications where we can look & see, read it aloud, & re-read it to be sure it's coherent & "proper" BEFORE we hit the "Enter" button or click "Post".

Gotta go; dinner & family game night.

It is more about choosing the wrong words? He is very bright but he says "I can't talk" when he is trying to carry on a conversation. I just wondered if their might be some new speech pathology tools to help him get his message out.

[wheeliebear75]

So he gets "tongue twisted"?

One of the things about having a TBI is just trying to keep things IN YOUR HEAD...."straight", sometimes I'll have "a thought" or idea up in my head....but I can't find the words to get this idea from my head OUT....after a WHILE then my brain will start finding the words I had been needing to explain. My Mom & B/F have learned my hand-signal to = "things are mixed up in my head right now"....this way they know to give me a few minutes or ask me questions like asking me "Is it something to do with dinner?" if it's nearing dinner time, I/we have found that for ME I can answer questions when I'm unable to just "spit it out".

I don't know how comfortable your friend is with his brain injury. But it helped my boyfriend talking with my Mom when we were 1st starting to get "chummy", my mom was able to explain what parts of the brain do what & what parts are messed up & some of the "tricks" to work around those glitches. I'm not embarrassed about it...ANYMORE. Keep in mind that although we're making great strides in acceptance certain things are harder for people to separate....it's easy enough for most people to distinguish that the body can be "broken" without the same being true of the mind & spirit....but when the abnormality is the head whether it be physical like TBI or mental illness....society (including those in the medical profession) has a much harder time & often tend to lump all people with TBI into "retard category"....which is why many of us with a TBI try HIDING IT whenever possible. IF he is comfortable explaining further some of his glitches & how he gets around them you may want to be somewhere somewhat private so he feels more comfortable & like my B/F you might ask his family (with his permission of course).

Hope this is at least of some help.