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Aids For Communicating With Hospitalized People?
charliezcc writes "My grandmother recently fell and broke two vertebrae (among other things) and is in the hospital while she recovers. Thankfully, she was not paralyzed and retains the use of her limbs. However, they have placed her on a respirator and she is virtually unable to communicate with us, so while we try to keep her company during her recovery, our company is reduced to mainly one-sided conversations. Asking her questions, even yes/no questions, is hard because of the neck brace — it turns into a guessing game and very quickly becomes frustrating for both parties. I'm a firm believer in the power of positive mental attitudes and to make her recovery a little better and I'd like to be able to facilitate two-sided conversations with her so she can keep positive. Keeping in mind that she does not have much technology experience, what would you suggest I utilize to ease the communication barrier? I remember seeing devices with a number of buttons that say whatever you program it to say, but I can't find these anymore. What other kind of devices are available?"
She probably shouldn't nod and shake her head to signal yes and no, as that may strain her spine. Propose some other signal. The easiest of all is probably that she make the same movements with her fist that she would otherwise make with her head, imitating nod and head-shake with her fist.
Or better, give her a chart of the Sign Language Alphabet. With that she can say anything, if she and her listener both have enough patience. With that she could sign "Y" for yes and "N" for no, and in many cases choose among alternatives with just an initial letter.
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Learning morse takes a buttload of time. It's extremely abstract, and probably isn't going to be easily memorized by someone who's sedated. If she already knows morse, then I'd say it's more of an option.
Alternatively, teach her a handful of ASL signs. "Yes" is a fist you nod. "No" is two fingers pinched against the thumb. Finger spelling resembles the written characters in many cases, so it shouldn't be a big burden to learn. Don't be afraid to invent signs - that's perfectly valid, especially when the signer has mobility issues. We've done baby-sign with both of our kids, and it's worked out wonderfully. Some suggestions:
Pain - touch left and right index fingers together, then point to the pain
Help - raise your hand like you need to ask a question
Hungry - motion like you're putting food in your mouth
Thirsty - lift the imaginary cup to your mouth
Water - place the sign "W" to your lips
Toilet - wave the sign "T"
Sleep - place one or both hands against your cheek
Done - place a hand flat over your mouth (hard to do when on a respirator, so invent one that works)
More - touch all fingers in each hand, then tap the two finger bunches together
I realize it's likely cost prohibitive, but from what I've seen of Mr (Dr, Sir?) Hawkings kit, the UI is very intuitive, especially for the portions where you're not trying to build a sentence (or a speech for that matter). You look at what you want to say and if you either blink or hover long enough the computer says it. It'd make yes/no I hurt, etc. questions a cakewalk.
@ spineboy
Assuming these are *not* cheap, how much is too much (IYHO) before a hospital would not buy them to have on hand in cases like this? AFAIK they are not even available as even a specialty item, but it got me thinking...
-nB
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
A tablet PC with Dasher might be the thing. Dasher is designed to enable 1 finger text entry at reasonable speed. My girlfriend uses it because of her repetitive stress injury.
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But if she can still write, that will be even better and faster.
I second the recommendation for a Magna Doodle if she can write. We got my mother a large one after her 2nd surgery to treat cancer because she was unable to talk. It really worked out well, especially when she was weak because she could rest it on her lap or the small table attached to the bed. You can give it to kids when it is no longer needed and let them enjoy it then.