The Magic of Communication

When we think about the basis for communication the concept of 'speech' stands at the pinnacle of this hierarchy of communication.  The ability to speak elevates us above the animal kingdom making us the supreme creature to walk this Earth.

When two people converse the interaction is speech-based, whether its face-to-face, on the telephone, or on a bad skype or face time connection.  We are sharing and expressing our message through the words and sounds that flow from our mouths.  Speech between two people is a masterpiece of music and a magical dance of words which play off of each other to create a symphony of communication.

However, ''Communication'' and the act of communicating is more than just talking.  We communicate with gestures, with our facial expressions, our vocalizations, and our overall body language.  It is possible and sometimes even more powerful when we utilize these aspects of communication to truly express ourselves.  Without these elements we don't connect to the person standing in front of us.

Overtime, Ayal was slowly starting to make progress in producing more words.  We started measuring progress from a monthly basis, to every 6 months, and currently, to a yearly basis.  Family and friends often commented on how impressed they were that Ayal was continuously making progress and noted how he had many more words than the last time they saw him.  Yes, it was true, he was acquiring more words, but his ability to consistently produce these words, even on a daily basis, is not 100% accurate.  In fact, speech production is often inconsistent as it is with most people who have aphasia.  One cannot compare speech acquisition of an individual with aphasia to a baby acquiring his first words.

Expressing his wants, needs, and his desire to join in conversations was comprised of a communication rainbow consisting of a medley of words, gestures, vocalizations, and facial expressions.

I'll be honest, our conversations weren't so magical and they definitely were NOT a harmonious dance of words. In fact, there were so many miscommunications it was amazing we were able to accomplish anything and maintain our sanity at the end of the day.

Ayal's ability to consistently produce all our names was like trying to find all matching socks after they've completed the drying cycle.  When he called out our oldest daughter's name he used our middle child's name, our middle child became our oldest, our son generally stayed the same, and my name took on a variety of possibilities: mommy, Ima, Julie, yeah, and a mix of our two daughter's names.  It wasn't that he was in the least bit confused or had forgotten the names.  They were cradled in his brain in some hidden hemisphere waiting to be accessed.  However, the signal from his brain to his mouth was severed so his original intent was altered and 'out of his control'.

These speech breakdowns were frustrating, NOT magical.

However, even though his output wasn't accurate, we all ended up learning and adapting to these inconsistencies.  We began to understand over time.  If humans just had 'speech' we might as well be robots.  We understood these speech inaccuracies and his intent because this is what makes us human. Isn't that magical?

I offer the following saying Í was sent recently :

We have 3 choice in life:
Give Up
Give In
     or
Give it your all

I believe each day is a new beginning, a new opportunity.  Which one will you choose today?