when communicating with someone who has aphasia, it’s important to remember you are talking to an equally competent adult, carey says. keeping the tone and volume of your voice at an appropriate level (so to not shout at the other person or talk to them like a child) is important to building an equal relationship.
“a lot of people who have aphasia, they know more than they can say, and their aphasia can mask their intelligence,” she says.
recognizing if you are having trouble communicating with the other person or understanding them and acknowledging that is also key to creating a relationship where you’re both contributing to the conversation.
when communicating with someone who has aphasia, aphasia friendly canada recommends using the acronym asc: offer alternative methods to answer, use slower pacing, and use close-ended questions.
visual guides can help people with aphasia communicate
the key is to have more than one modality for communication. alternative methods of communication include providing markers and blank paper to write on, visual guides, and letter/number charts.
carey also recommends using age-appropriate visual guides (i.e., not images from a children’s book) — a google image search can usually yield a host of useful images. in turn, the person you’re chatting with may also want to show you a photo or diagram on their phone or tablet.
4 minute read
