Communication scenarios

Scenario 4
Austin is a middle-aged man with Cerebral Palsy. He is feeling very frustrated because he thinks people in his family don’ take his feelings into account when making decisions.
His occupational therapist has come to the house to discuss available support.

The occupational therapist will be communicating with the family and with Austin himself. So it will be group communication with the family and then the occupational therapist will have one-one communication with Austin. The reason for the communication is to offer and suggest giving Austin better communication options so he doesn’t feel so frustrated and left out of decisions.
It is a formal meeting the therapist may sometimes talk informally in order for Austin to understand fully as it may be difficult with his disability to understand some of the formal communication and language. This is a different communication from how the occupational therapist will be talking to other professionals about Austin’s condition and choices for better communication. When the occupational therapist is talking to another professional they will be using strictly formal communication along with medical jargon.
In this meeting with Austin and his family, the occupational therapist may use certain forms of communication such as oral to explain and explore options to solve Austin’s communication problem. The therapist may also be signing and using symbols with
Austin so he can understand fully what is being said too and doesn’t feel left out of the conversation. I feel that in a meeting with a patient and the patient’s family one of the most important form of interpersonal interactions is non-verbal interaction. For example the way the therapist sits the facial expressions they use, silence and reflective listening. I feel that doing all of these and being aware of them shows that you are listening to what each person has to say and shows you’re interested and involved. This is important in this situation so the therapist can offer Austin the best form of available support he can have to suit his particular situation and to suit the family.
When communicating to just Austin the therapist needs to be using Austin’s preferred method of communication, whether that be Makaton or using signs, so that he feels comfortable and fully involved in what is going on and can understand fully.

Scenario 5
Jenny is a 15 year old girl who has just recently lost her sister in a road traffic accident.
She doesn’t feel that she can talk to her family, as they are so upset themselves. She contacts the Samaritans by phone to talk about her feelings.

The communication would be between the operator behind the phone of the Samaritans and Jenny. It would be a one-to-one personal conversation between Jenny and the operator and the reason for the call is so Jenny can talk to someone and opens up about how she feels and maybe receives some advice.
Because this is a one-to-one conversation it would be formal to show respect to her and so what the operator is saying is clear, correct and understanding for Jenny. There may be some reference to informal communication as Jenny is only 15 years old so is still only a child so needs to feel like she is talking to a friend in a way so she can feel more comfortable. The form of communication they would be using is oral as it is over the phone so they won’t be able to do any other forms such as signing or touching for example. Jenny has simply rang for someone to talk to and for someone to listen to how she feels as she hasn’t been able to do so with any peers or family, so oral communication is key in this situation anyway.
Speech and language are two key forms of interpersonal interaction that would be used in this situation. The language in which the operator speaks in to Jenny needs to be something she understands and feel relaxed with. A key form of interpersonal interaction would also be reflective listening as this is the main reason why Jenny is ringing, if the operator was to talk over her the whole time just giving advice, they wouldn’t be understanding really how Jenny was feeling and Jenny wouldn’t be able to talk about the things she rang up to talk about.
Jenny may have a preferred method of communication but because she is on the phone the only one available would be the type of language the operator is using with her.