Dorothy-thompson Has any one got any tips on how to communicate, my husband's speech is now so poor that understanding him is very difficul

[dorothy-thompson]

I think some people use the alphabet to choose the letters to make the word? Or simply pointing to either YES or NO to straightforward questions?

Any tips or suggestions would be gratefully received.

Saw the neurologist today, when asked how things were, I told him to think of his worst day and then magnify it a thousand times and then perhaps he could begin to imagine how "things were".

.

think he was somewhat taken aback as they always expect us British to say, "oh, mustn't grumble"!

[hmfsli]

Hi Dorothy,

"yes/no" cards are handy for simple closed questions but there are a number of other options for communicating too, for example a system of symbols or the alphabet board that you mention. Here's a link which may give you more ideas: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictu...

The important thing is that you and your husband are able to negotiate a way to communicate that meets both your needs.

H

[teena2]

Hello Dorothy, the occupational therapist tried very hard to find ways to help and suggeted prompt cards to get the topic and go on from there. Chris would get frustrated with me showing him all the cards and still not getting what he wanted; we also tried alphabet cards and these were not very succesful and it was was quite painstaking.

What we found most succesful and least stressful was to guess the topic and get a response by hand squeezes. Once for yes, twice for no. We then had to guess what he wanted within that topic. I actually became quite good at it and if I was stumped I would take five minutes out and think about it and then come back with further questions. The important thing to remember is that your question has to be phrased to require yes or no answers. Hope this is helpful.

Teena2

[jimandsharynp]

There are computer based software available but if the motor movements are not good and/or cognitive abilities very much impared these may only work for a time. But give whatever you think will work a try.

Ive had people ask me why I don't get a scooter/cart for my wife. We tried one of those at the grocery store. She almost destroyed a display of food and came close to hitting other things. It's just that her reaction time is impared and the cognitive abilities also reduced. So an electric cart/scooter are out of the question for us.

Jimbo