Speech, language and communication difficulties

A guide for patients and carers

remember that communication is a two-way process and you can help
improve it
don’t rush - people with aphasia communicate better when they are at ease
allow the person ‘processing time’ to understand and formulate their
response
if necessary make it easier for them to respond, for example by formulating your questions so that they can give yes or no answers, or by providing a pen and paper as back-up
use your questions in a calm and systematic way to help the person get to
the crux of what they want to say
don’t assume that they or you have fully understood - try and recap to make sure that this is the case
don’t change topic too quickly
break your sentences up so that you make one point at a time
try re-phrasing things if the person does not understand the first time
use all available forms of communication i.e. say things and write them down, use any communication aids provided by the speech and language therapist, and use gestures and facial expressions to help get your message across try and use humour to lighten the situation if it’s difficult
if you try your best and a message still isn’t understood don’t feel bad and
don’t give up - just try again
discuss how things are going with the speech and language therapist

Page 10 of 19

ISBN 1 901893 12 X
£3