So much with the busy...

Hi all,

apologies for the lack of posts - unfortunately the last 3 weeks have been totally insane, and I just haven't had time to sit down and write anything. Today's post won't be anything brilliant... just a bit of a catch up. :)

Today is the last day of clinic. This summer we had clinic plus two classes: Assessment and Dysphagia (disorders of swallowing). Assessment was pretty closely integrated into our clinic process, so it wasn't so noticeable. Dysphagia was totally independent of clinic, and it was tough. I was so unmotivated to learn that I found it hard to pay attention in class. I wound up teaching myself most of the material the weekend before the final. :) Luckily, that works for me! And dysphagia is a disorder area I'd like to spend at least some time working in some day, so I'm glad I got something out of the class.

Clinic itself was a weird experience. The 4 45-minute sessions a week were great. I loved being with clients: both working with them and just getting to know them. The rest of the time was more challenging. There was so much group work, and so many overlapping roles with no clear delineation. There was a lot of paperwork, something I really don't mind working on solo, but something that is very challenging to try and complete with another person. Honestly, who writes reports with two people sitting at one computer? Yet this is how our clinic is structured in many ways, and I found it really challenging. Clinic was also hard because everyone is exhausted from the last 2 semesters of school. Tempers are shorter, endurance is a joke, and minor obstacles become frustrating hurdles to leap. If I could make one recommendation to the program, it would be that they give use TWO weeks in between winter and spring term, and only four weeks between summer and fall.

What makes all of the above worthwhile is the little girl who used to be about 25% intelligible, and is now closer to 55%. Her mum is noticing that strangers understand the little girl better, and the little girl isn't giving up so easily when people don't understand. That's pretty rewarding. And don't forget the older gentleman, unable to write more than a single word in May, who is now writing 3 word phrase to communicate his ideas. He's also added 4 words to his spoken repertoire, and his daughter reports that he's much more confident about trying to get his ideas across. That's pretty rewarding, too.

Other things sort of ground to a halt during clinic. My thesis, while not totally stalling out, certainly slowed in its progress. Luckily I've got fantastic supervisors, and they've kept me working on it a bit at a time, so I've got somewhere to go. My plan is to finish the prospectus this August - we'll see how it goes.

I basically quit running for a couple months there, which was a terrible choice. If anything, I should have been running more, to try and better cope with the stress. Instead, I chose to let the long days at school, the homework and the session planning, and my Robert get in the way. :) Now that clinic's winding down, I've had some extra time, and I've tied on my runners twice this week. It's pretty sad how slow I've gotten, and how low my endurance is, but I'm feeling really, REALLY good about getting out there and going. And with the month of August off, I see no reason that I won't be able to re-establish my runs as habit. Rob's also going to pick up a tennis racket, so we can play together. :) He's more into dangerous things, like rollerblading and mountain biking, so we're working on finding things that both of us enjoy that we could do together. So far, we've got tennis. ;)

Tomorrow is Meg's and my shared birthday party. Her birthday was yesterday, and mine's not til August, but she's going away to Africa for the whole month, so now seemed a good time to celebrate. I'm quite excited - she's hosting a semi-formal afternoon of desserts. I think it's going to be wonderful! The only thing is that I actually need a dessert, and baking is not something I'm feeling up for. I may have to check out a couple of the bakeries in the neighborhood, and see what I can find. :)

I applied for a part-time position, and I should hear back next week. The woman I applied to has actually already sent me an email, but it just said that she was heading out on vacation, and would be in touch. The company is called DriveABLE, and they assess people with cognitively impairing medical conditions. These impairments may or may not render someone unfit to drive, and adults suffering from these conditions need to be screened for whether or not they are safe to be on the road. The job that I applied for is one in which I would do the in-office testing. I'm quite nicely qualified for the position, as it requires assisting adults (mostly seniors) in demonstrating their abilities, even if they're language impaired. We'll see what happens, I guess. :)

And that's all that's new at the moment. I'll try and post a bit more regularly once I've got a bit more time. :)

Love you,
Elizabeth

Ugh, Communication

I may be all about the talking, but I'm so over this communicating business. ;) And for those of you who think that's not possible, I'd like to share a few Ela-style definitions with you.

In the world of rehabilitation medicine... Ok, just speech pathology (one of our profs asked a professor in the physical therapy dep't to differentiate these terms, and she couldn't). Anyways. In the world of speech language pathology, linguistics, and some psychology the terms 'speech,' 'language,' and 'communication' all denote different things. Crazy, I know. Let's begin, shall we?

Speech. Speech is the actual, physical mechanism of creating words using your lungs, your larynx, your mouth, and your nose. It is the airstream that is filtered through your vocal folds, mouth and nose.

Language. Language is a little bit more nebulous than speech is. It's all of the planning that happens before the muscles in your torso, neck and head work together to create the speech. Language includes things like grammar/syntax and vocabulary. If you create a sentence that is correct in your head, but don't actually say it out loud, that's language. :) Therefore, there are a variety of ways to use language. For example, writing uses language. So does sign (as in, sign language). Language does not require speech. It does, however, require symbols. So pointing up at the sky to communicate the message of 'up' is not language. That's not a symbol. Assigning arbitrary sounds to an idea is language. Assigning arbitrary scribbles that we call letters to an idea is language. Language must also be neoproductive. It has to allow to communicate an unlimited number of messages.

Communication. Communication is very cool. It doesn't require speech OR language. Infants are very effective communicators - and their tongues completely fill their mouths! How many of us have seen mums listen to their kids cry and say "oh, they're Ok. That's the hungry cry, not the hurt cry." Crying isn't speech. It isn't language. But it's primitive communication (I say primitive because it lacks intention - it's unlikely your 4 month old is thinking "hm, I'm hungry. I shall cry at 800 Hz and 65 dB SPL in order to indicate this). It's an oft quoted tidbit that the words we say make up only 7% of what our listeners hear. The other 93% comes from tone of voice, facial expression, and body language. This is why email and instant messenger can cause so many issues - you can't tell how the person is saying their message.

Anyhoo. I'm all about speech, and I really love language. But lately this communication business has been making me CRAZY!! The automatic assumption is that someone who talks a lot will be good at having difficult conversations. I completely disagree! It's obviously a possibility, but I could talk the hind leg off a hippo, and I stink at having to talk about the serious stuff. :) This is something I'm improving at, though, especially Robert is an excellent communicator, and is really encouraging me to learn to apply that which I already know (the counselling portion of my assessment class taught me a lot of skills).

Wednesday evening both Robert and I were a bit frustrated about a few different things, and my response was to be very quiet and to kind of avoid him. He was having none of that. I was eventually sat down and given a stern talking to about what makes relationships work. :) We managed to talk through most of the things that were bothering us, which was great, if tough for me. All communication-ed out, I was hoping for a quiet-ish Thursday. Instead, my clinical educator and I had a meeting, in which she expressed concern about how quiet I had been in meetings recently. I explained that I've been very tired recently, and that while I'm processing all of the information, I just wasn't sharing very much. She smiled, and informed me that she's the same way. When she gets tired, she gets quiet.

"However," she added "I don't think that your team understands where you're at. I think you need to sit down and communicate with them about how you work, and explain where you're at."

*headdesk*


See? See what I mean?? More communication! :D I am communication-ed out. I did actually sit down with my team and talk with them about how I work (I wish we'd do personality colours in our program. Then I could just say "when I'm tired, I go green."*). They were very pleased that I shared with them; I suspect they thought I was angry or some such thing.

This summer is definitely one of professional growth for me. I now know how to design an assessment, write an assessment plan, plan treatment, plan sessions, take data, and write treatment reports. I'm developing an arsenal of clinical skills on how to shape sounds, support conversation, and drill practice. And all of this is valuable. But all of it pales in comparison to the personal growth that I'm achieving through being pushed to communicate effectively. It might be exhausting, and it damn well might be frustrating, but it is so worth it.

Love you,
E.

Hold Me

I saw this cartoon this morning, and thought that it was just so sweet. And also true. And it perhaps this truth that leads me to my soapbox:

Touch in Today's Society

This is another one of those things that Megs and I talk about a lot. Our basic argument is this: People need touch. Our society says that touch is weird or wrong unless it is contained within a romantic relationship. People therefore struggle to meet their touch needs in a healthy way, and all kinds of unhealthy coping mechanisms ensue.

I firmly believe that people connect with each other on a deeper level when touch is incorporated. And I'm not talking about sitting in each other's laps, or being wrapped around each other like stripes on a candy cane. I'm thinking of an arm around the shoulders, a hand on the knee, holding hands. It brings the physical sensory portion of the brain into the interaction, and also integrates some of the more primitive portions of the brain. I also believe that it's harder to lie when you're physically being gentle with someone. Research indicates that babies who aren't touched fail to thrive - why would we as adults be so terribly different?

Yet despite this need for touch, our society has rendered touch taboo - unless of course you're romantically involved with the person. I suspect that some of this restrictiveness stems from the idea that touch is a slippery slope - once you start touching someone, and become comfortable with it, it's easier to touch more and in more personal ways. I respect the idea that we probably shouldn't encourage our teenage girls to be overly touch-friendly with their teenage boy friends. However. I firmly believe that this is a vicious cycle. We say 'don't touch, unless you're dating.' Then when they start dating, they start touching and find out that it feels good to have those needs met. There's nowhere else that's permissible to meet those needs, so they just keep on touching with whomever they're dating.

How easy is it to break up with someone who isn't right for you, but is the only person who is meeting your touch needs? How easy is it to walk away from the one person you feel a physical connection with, even if they emotionally abuse you? You have needs that you desperately want to meet, society says that there is one place to meet it, that place isn't healthy. Now what?

I believe that we can break this cycle. Beyond that, I think that as Christians we are called to break it. To the best of my knowledge, the majority of Jesus' healings involved him touching the people he healed. And let's be clear: I'm not advocating for sexual touch. What I am advocating for is the de-sexualization of certain kinds of touching: holding hands, hugging, and to some extent, cuddling/close sitting. It's my belief that if we can get these kinds of touches from people in a non-sexual way, we won't be so desperate to get them from a romantic partner. And I think that this is possible. With their permission, touch your friends. Touch your family. Be known as a 'touchy-feely' person. Be careful that you're not leading anyone on (goodness knows that it is a risk), but show the people in your life that you're Ok with touching even if you aren't dating.

So go ahead - hug someone today. And please: feel free to hold me.

Love,
Ela

Next time on Ela's Soapbox: The Language of Touch