Communication Strategies Flashcards
What are sources for communication breakdowns?
Listener’s speech recognition skills
Speaker’s delivery of the message
Environment
Message complexity
*know for comps and praxis
What are the 3 stages of communication breakdowns?
Detect a breakdown
Choose a course of action
Take course of action using maladaptive (bad) or facilitative (good) strategies
Does detecting breakdowns require attention and active listening?
Yes
Practice listening & avoid the habit of allowing someone else listen for you.
Concentrate on what is said (try to be aware of the topic, maintain an active interest, and become familiar with the way different people express themselves)
Look at the person who is speaking
Move closer - don’t carry-on conversations from another room
Try to reduce or eliminate interfering background noise
Don’t pretend you’re following along (ask for clarification and tell them which part was missed)
Is repairing communication is an equal responsibility of both the PHL and the CP?
Yes
Are realistic expectations important to discuss?
Yes
They need to know that listening will be difficult at times (misunderstanding is expected and also occurs for normal hearing people)
Analyze the environment before blaming the HL
Recognize that illness and fatigue make listening more difficult
The ability to laugh at yourself is a great help in adjusting to any situation or condition (keep a sense of humor)
Will speakers need to be reminded to modify their communication style more than once?
Yes
They don’t fully understand the impact of HL
They don’t know how to help improve communication
To change a behavior requires repeated reinstruction and reminders of what is needed
It’s not a personal attack, they simply forgot
What are maladaptive repair strategies?
Coping behaviors that yield short term benefit with long-term consequences
What are facilitative repair strategies?
An attempt to identify & influence to avoid communication breakdown
What are some facilitative repair strategies?
Non-specific strategies
Specific strategies (instructional strategies, message tailoring strategies, constructive strategies, anticipatory strategies, and adaptive strategies)
What are some examples of maladaptive repair strategies?
Dominating the conversation
Ignoring CP so they’ll repeat the message
Bluffing and pretending to understand
Overreacting to miscommunication
Withdrawal from social interactions
What is a non-specific strategies?
Looking confused or saying “huh?”
Letting the communication partner know that they did not hear them, but didn’t give any instruction on how to repair the communication
This strategy leads to simple repetition of phrase which may not help improve understanding
What are the two conversational repair strategies?
Instructional repair strategies
Message-tailoring strategies
What are the three supportive repair strategies?
Constructive strategies
Anticipatory strategies
Adaptive strategies
What are instructional repair strategies?
When the listener instructs the speaker on a specific way to change the delivery of the message
What is the recipe for the instructional repair strategy? (3)
Explanation (acknowledge your HL and/or the source of difficulty)
Specific direction (supply a concrete suggestion of how to improve the situation)
Positive reinforcement (express value for their efforts, acknowledge gesture or affirmation)
How does acknowledgement aid a PHL?
They are perceived as more likeable, sincere, and reliable, and were preferred as conversational partners over persons with disabilities who provided no such acknowledgement
Planning a personal acknowledgement helps the PHL feel comfortable and in control of the activity limitation before attempting to use the strategy
What are some examples of instructional repair strategies?
Request public speaker use amplification (mics, remote mics, assistive technology)
Ask the speaker to spell a word
Ask the speaker to count or use single digits for numbers/times
If exact information is needed, ask for the information in writing
For unilateral loss, ask the CP to speak on the side of your good ear
What is the message-tailoring strategy?
When the listener asks a close-ended question to limit potential answers and amount of repetition required by the speaker
Listeners tell speakers what part of the message was understood during instructional statement
Prompts them to rephrase and requests specific clarification
What happens when the PHL continues to misunderstand after 2-3 repetitions in a conversation?
Frustration
What are some important counseling points related to instructional repair and message tailoring strategies?
Instructional strategies reduce frustration as you improve conversational fluency
Auditory closure skills improve when message tailoring strategies are used (PHL retain more acoustic information after stating what was heard, auditory closure skills become easier when you’ve narrowed down the options, CP frustration reduces because the PHLs close-ended questions let them know exactly what was heard and what was missed)
What are constructive strategies?
When actions are taken to change an environment for improved communication
Why is lighting important?
You need light to see your communication partners face
Visual cues are very important to understand information
We know you will hear and understand more if you can see the communication partners face
When do speechreading abilities reduce?
Lighting is too dim
Backlighting- strong light behind the speaker
Shadows distort or hide facial features
Glare makes it difficult to watch the speaker
Do people become more reliant on proper lighting as we age?
Yes
What are some age-related biologic changes to vision?
It’s harder to focus (eyes are slower to adjust, muscles weaken, rigid lens creates more resistance - hard to pull into shape)
Less light gets through the lens (bc of the thickening of the cornea and cataracts and pupils get smaller)
Light entering the eye scatters (opaque corneas scatter light in different directions)
Colors become distorted (lenses begin to yellow and absorbs a higher amount of blue wavelength light, creating distorted colors)
What are some lighting recommendations for home and office?
Avoid recessed lighting - causes shadows
Increase lumens by adding table and floor lamps
Add adjustable task lighting
Lighten up your walls (darker walls require up to 4x more light)
Reduce glare (use opaque shades, matte room paint)
Keep light levels uniform (ambient lighting balances lighting within space)
Does reverberation impact communication?
Yes
What causes reverberation?
Large rooms
High ceilings
Hard furniture/lack of furniture
Hard surfaces - glass, stone, tile, and hardwood
Why does noise impact communication?
Don’t get as many sound popping out of the noise (frequency resolution)
Limited dynamic range (soft sounds inaudible, loud sound irritating)
Could be noise that has a masking effect
Attending to one sound can be difficult
Temporal resolution (harder to hear the gaps between syllables and sounds - words tend to blend together)
How do you manage noise?
Locate source of noise
Reduce the noise (mute the volume, close the door, add attenuating materials, schedule private meetings, choose favorable seating)
Move away from the noise (avoid noisy restaurants at peak times, move to another room)
Anticipate noise and plan ahead to avoid it
Does position impact communication?
Yes
Closeness and angle of speaker
Does the intensity of speech decrease by 6 dB for every doubling of distance?
Yes
How far should communication partners be from each other?
About 6 feet
Improves SNR and speech reading abilities
Do visual distractions impact communication?
Yes
What are anticipatory communication strategies?
When the PHL prepares for conversational interactions in advance by anticipating conversational content and potential listening environments
What are some anticipatory steps to prepare for conversations?
Learn the topic before entering a conversation
Review names of dinner and cocktail party guests before arriving
Read about current events and movies
Obtain agendas in advance of meetings
Investigate an environment before the event
Obtain a synopsis of a play or movie before going to see it
Review the restaurant menus online
Symptom search to learn potential diagnosis b/f doctor visit
Do anticipatory strategies and constructive strategies work hand-in-hand?
Yes
It’s worthwhile spending time analyzing and preparing for communication environments
Constructive strategies improve signal to noise ratio and speechreading skills
Listeners identify & CONTROL factors which make communication difficult and strategize in advance
What are adaptive strategies?
Methods to counteract maladaptive behaviors (emotions) that stem from hearing loss
Can mild to moderate stress enhance attention during communications?
Yes
But high stress levels reduce attention and cognitive capacity (and the ability to use communication strategies)
Can the use of relaxation techniques in advance of a stress interaction reduce communication breakdowns?
Yes
Such as conscious relaxation, deep breathing techniques, power pose, and purposely redirect thoughts away from emotion and towards the conversation
What is the grounding technique?
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste (swallow)
