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Neuro Connections

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Neuro Connections

Private speech therapy for adults after concussion, brain injury or stroke.

12/04/2024

✨ Can we please normalize sharing communication strategies with providers? ✨

💬 Here’s the thing: Communication isn’t always easy—especially during healthcare appointments where emotions run high, time feels limited, and the outcomes matter deeply. For individuals with cognitive or communication challenges, these situations can be even more overwhelming.

Should it all be on the patient to advocate? No!

Healthcare providers should be aware of how to support communication in general, especially for those with cognitive or communication difficulties. They have a responsibility to create an environment where all patients feel heard and understood.

However, providers may not know how to support certain unique needs. Sharing strategies like asking them to slow down, write things down, or give extra processing time not only helps the individual but also educates providers on how to better support communication for everyone. 🧠💡

🌟 Why it’s worth it:

✔️It encourages providers to proactively support effective communication.
✔️It helps tailor interactions to meet unique client needs.
✔️It promotes better health outcomes through improved understanding.

🌈 Let’s work together to shift the narrative from “I don’t want to be a bother” to “We all deserve clear, supportive communication.”How do you encourage communication-friendly practices in healthcare settings? Drop your thoughts below! 👇

Need more support? Check out our Communication in Healthcare Appointments resource on our website.

05/17/2024

Tomorrow is National Speech-Language Pathologist Day!

What is the one thing you wish everyone knew about SLPs?!

05/14/2024

✨✨It's finally here! The High Level Word-Finding Workbook!! 🧠🧠🧠

I've seen it asked a million times in the Facebook groups... "What are your go-to ideas for high level word finding?"

This is a 34-page PDF that incorporates the following:

1. Engaging Content: Features a blend of visuals, examples, and exercises to teach effective word-finding strategies.

2. Personalized Learning: Encourages clients to create their own examples, fostering deeper engagement and understanding.

3. Metacognitive Approach: Helps clients to reflect on and choose effective strategies for different situations.

4. Real-Life Application: Emphasizes the importance of cognitive load and real-life communicative demands of word-finding.

5. Practice Exercises: Includes several decontextualized exercises using moderate to complex targets for clients who require additional practice.

6. Strategy Tracking and Home Programming: Home tracking to monitor usage and effectiveness of strategies.

My goal with this resource is to make you feel CONFIDENT in providing evidence-informed care for clients with "high level" or subtle word-finding challenges!

Click the link in my bio for your copy!

05/01/2024

It's that time of year! Let's celebrate Speech and Hearing Month by spreading the word about the important work that SLPs do!

Our goal is to raise public awareness about our role in the treatment of communication and swallowing disorders.

Our scope of practice includes
✨Cognition/Cognitive-Communication (attention, memory, problem-solving, executive functions)
✨Speech Sound Production (articulation, phonology, motor planning)
✨Language (verbal expression, auditory comprehension, reading, writing)
✨Social Communication and Pragmatics
✨Feeding and Swallowing
✨Voice and Resonance
✨AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)
✨Literacy
✨Fluency (stuttering and cluttering)
✨Aural (re)habilitation
✨and more!

Do all SLPs treat ALL these areas?! Usually not! Many SLPs have a single (or several areas) of clinical focus.

At Neuro Connections, we LOVE cognitive-communication and language.

What are your favourite areas to treat? Which area of practice do you think many people are not familiar with?!

04/12/2024

Let's set the stage:

💡You're sitting under the bright fluorescent office lights
🔊The incessant hum of the HVAC system filling your ears, accompanied by snippets of the next-door office conversation that you can't help but overhear.
🗣️Now in the midst of this chaos, your practitioner is rapidly firing off information, each new piece a potential puzzle you're scrambling to solve.
🤕As the information builds, so does your headache, throbbing with the relentless noise.
❓You're trying your best to grasp the flood of details coming your way, feeling lost by the minute.
🧑‍⚕️Just as you're piecing your thoughts together, you're asked, "Any questions?" Inside, you think, "Probably,' but what you really need is a moment to process everything.

Scenarios like these happen far too often.

You have the right to be supported in your communication needs.

Don't hesitate to ask for what helps you engage most effectively.

Have you ever encountered a similar situation? What helped you?

03/20/2024

🧠🏋️‍♂️Cognitive Load: The mental effort or cognitive resources required to process information, communicate, and perform various cognitive tasks.

⚖️Factors that impact cognitive load:
➡️External distractions (busy, noisy environment)
➡️Familiarity of topic
➡️Complexity of topic
➡️Pressure/high stakes
➡️Number of communication partners
➡️Speed of conversation
➡️Amount of information and how well it's organized
➡️Emotional state
➡️Sleep/Fatigue
➡️Pain or physical discomfort

Understanding cognitive load can help us recognize factors that impact communication and help us to develop and advocate for more supportive environments.

How do you adjust your environment or daily routines to manage cognitive load? Do you feel comfortable advocating for environments that better support your communication needs?

03/04/2024

Communication will never be perfect. And, it doesn’t need to be!

Human communication is dynamic and complex.

Ask yourself, what is the goal of this conversation?

Being genuine, empathetic, and adaptable communicators helps us create more meaningful and authentic connections.

What do you think fosters connection?

03/01/2024

The invisible injury - unseen and often misunderstood.

What lies beneath the surface? What struggles do people not see?

Brain injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, and at any time.

Navigating through these challenges requires support, empathy, and patience.

How have you effectively conveyed your struggles to help others understand?

01/24/2024

So, what might word-finding problems actually look like?

➡️Word substitutions/Paraphasias (i.e. may be similar sounds or related by meaning)
✨Neologisms (i.e. made up words)
🕵️Vague language (e.g. “thing” or “stuff”)
🤔Metalinguistic comment (e.g. “I can’t think of it.”)
🗣️Filler words or phrases (e.g. “um” or “you know”)
🔁Word or phrase repetitions (e.g. “ She read... she read...”)
⛔False starts (e.g. “She had to - I got it from them.”)
🔇Silent pauses (e.g. “My dog is a............ cockapoo.”)
⏱️Abandoned sentences (e.g. “One day they went to...”)

Now, does everyone experience these errors from time to time? Absolutely!

But, if they are happening often and impact our ability to communicate effectively, they can be very frustrating.

What errors do you notice most often?

01/05/2024

💡Did you know?! After a traumatic brain injury (TBI), 67% report difficulties with word-finding.

Although word-finding difficulty can be extremely frustrating, there are self-cueing strategies that can help such as:
⏸️taking a pause
✅❎using a synonym or antonym
🔁circumlocution (talking around the word - describe it's use, category, shape/colour)
🖼️visualization
👌 using a gesture
🗣️sentence completion
🔤using the first sound/letter
📝 writing out the word

It's important to remember that the goal is 1️⃣ to get your message across
and 2️⃣ continue the flow of conversation.

It often doesn't matter if you retrieve that specific word or not (unless you're playing trivia 🙃!).

Which strategy do you find the most helpful?
Olver JH, Ponsford JL, Curran CA. Outcome following traumatic brain injury: a comparison between 2 and 5 years after injury. Brain Inj. 1996 Nov;10(11):841-8. doi: 10.1080/026990596123945. PMID: 8905161.

01/03/2024

Time for a re-introduction (since it's been over 2 years 😲!).

✨swipe to read✨

Tell me about yourself! Are you an SLP, a brain injury survivor, or a loved one of a brain injury?

Any specific content you'd like me to share to support your journey? Let me know! 📚✨

Any guesses on where all my travel photos were taken?! 😀✈️🌏

Address

West

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 4pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+14165272066

Website

http://www.neuroconnections.ca/

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