ACQ: WEBWORDS 12 / Caroline Bowen

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Webwords 12
NORMAL COMMUNICATION
ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
The ACQ Internet Column October 2002
Caroline Bowen

Normal expectations
There were sniggers from the seat behind. "Look at him, he must be 110 in the shade. They should put them out of their misery before they get to that age." Stifled snorts of amusement filtered through the embarrassed silence of the lounge, and then, "Go go go! Watch out pops!" They stumbled over his protruding foot, leaping towards the great train's buffet car, blazers and school bags flying.

Momentarily distracted from his e-book about electronic eavesdropping the older Australian painfully retracted the offending leg, turned in his seat and smiled at them.

"You know," he remarked casually, "People used to say anything in front of me if they thought I was reading. But nowadays they do it because I'm a harmless old codger." He put the laptop aside, rubbed his shin, winced slightly, and whispered to her conspiratorially.

"Are you the victim of a body implant?"

They giggled.

"Ah! You can laugh. But if I'm going to be stereotyped for getting older I might as well enjoy myself. I'll be as garrulous, outspoken and forgetful, as I like and you can all blame it on my poor old frontal lobe."

She smiled sympathetically, and patted her tummy.

"No, it's not an implant, and, by the way, you don't have the monopoly on being thought to have memory problems. Everyone assumes I'm forgetful because of my hormones, but it's really because I'm short of sleep. For me, pregnancy and a good night's sleep just don't go together." She turned to her partner who agreed unhesitatingly.

"That's right. Anyway, we've been reading a lot about lifespan development lately, and it seems that there is way too much confusion in people's minds between what happens to your communication skills in normal, healthy old age compared with what happens when older people have strokes, or illnesses."

They fell silent for a moment, each thinking about this idea of "normal and healthy". Then the older man asked shyly:

"You said 'it' - do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"No, we had an amnio but we didn't want to be told that. We don't mind what it is as long as it's normal..."

"...and healthy." The man finished for her. "I know exactly what you mean. FTND, good APGARS, ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes...no unexpected little...well, you know. That's all everyone wants."

"You sound as though you have some special insight here. I'm Toni, by the way, and this is James."

He extended his hand. "Bill. I'm Bill, one time speech language pathologist." He reacted immediately to the flicker of surprise on their faces. "Yes, I was almost one of a kind in my generation. It wasn't quite normal (he gave the word special emphasis) in those days for a bloke to have a job like that."

"And there I was giving you the benefit of my wisdom about communication skills - while you've seen it all!" James looked apologetic.

"Don't worry! If there's one thing my profession taught me it is that people generally do feel quite "expert" on the subject of the communication skills of others. They are quick to comment on the way others express themselves. They judge their fellow humans, from cradle to grave, in terms of their communication skills.

In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, a researcher in the area, Professor Deborah Burke said, 'Language is so important in how people assess your cognitive ability.'

Burke was really talking about people who are getting on in years, like me. Her view is, "If you're having word-finding problems, if you can't speak fluently, if your speech is irrelevant, people are going to write you off. So it's fundamentally important in whether you're seen as a vibrant, healthy person." He paused. "But I'm talking too much. What do you do, Toni?"

"We're both scientists. Actually, another group that is prone to stereotyping. Even today girls are not always encouraged to choose science. Although I guess there is better representation of women in science than there is of men in speech-language pathology."

"Yes it's an interesting thing that. Especially when you consider that in some client groups - people who stutter, for example - the population is predominantly male. And yet, the profession has always been a female stronghold."

The conversation lapsed. The desert landscape slid past, and they swayed slightly in their seats as the Indian Pacific eased itself sedately across the Nullarbor.

Ages and stages
It was dark when the three made their way to the Queen Adelaide Restaurant. Over a delicious meal the conversation turned again to the fascinating subject of normal language development. The origins of babble and how babbling leads to early speech development. The amazing progress a child makes from zero to three and up to five, and into the early school years.

Common ground
They were just rambling into the area of current research findings when a return visit from the boisterous "Watch out pops" contingent reminded them of the developmental tasks of normal adolescents. "Respec yor Nan," said one of them seriously as he went by.

"Bo! Wait a lickle bit." They stopped, mesmerised. Perfectly dead-pan, Bill hissed, "Is you a bit fick? Shut yo moufs and lissen." He fired up his laptop. "You innerested in de Ali G online rapper? While de ting loads you can enjoy de Borat screensaver." He had captured his audience.

And so they passed the night, inching ever closer to Kalgoorlie. One old man, two thirty something scientists, and four fascinated 15 year old boys: laughing, telling their stories, finding out about each other until fatigue overcame them and they all staggered off to bed midst a chorus of affable "goodnights" and "sleep wells" and "massives".

"Which just goes to show," said Bill, "That communication at any age is about finding a common frame of reference. BOOYAKASHA! Nuff said."

In the news

2002 Congratulations!.
The theme of the October 2002, Vol 4, No 3, issue of ACQ was normal communication across the lifespan. Readers were invited to participate in an associated photography competition in which they had to submit photos that reflected the "typical, everyday communication" experience. The winning entry, and cover picture for the issue came from Seoul based SLP Alison Kimble-Fry.

2003 Australian of the Year - Qld
"Dornan A.M. has been a speech pathologist and researcher for 38 years. In 1992 she founded the Hear and Say Centre" [for children who are deaf or hard of hearing] "a charity organisation for teaching children to listen and speak using the Auditory-Verbal approach, rather than traditional sign language. As a result many hundreds of hearing-impaired children now live as part of the hearing world because of her ground-breaking work. She presents at many national and international conferences and has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1992, an Order of Australia Medal in 1998 and became a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow in 1999."

2004 IALP World Conference. .
The 26th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics will be hosted by Speech Pathology Australia and The University of Queensland. See you there, August 29 - September 2, 2004, in Brisbane, Queensland. Beautiful one day, perfect the next. More information here.

Page updated 12 May 2009

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