Non Verbal Communication
Non-Verbal Communication
We all have a concept in mind when we talk about non-verbal communication and I am sure that most of us think in terms of “Body Language”. Whether it be expressions, smiles, movement, hugs, hand gestures or miming.
We might also think of non-verbal communication in writings or simple drawings that depict what we are trying to say or others are trying to communicate to us. Or in having a chart that can be pointed to that shows us what someone is trying to tell us.
A few weeks ago, I had an unexpected learning situation. One of my assistants, an art major, had been running an activity over the course of a few weeks having the residents paint/draw cards for a competition between our communities for a corporate Christmas card. Each session he gave the residents the same cueing, laid out the same media, crayons, paint, markers etc. The first week L. took crayons and did a pretty decent drawing of three flowers. The following week she drew a partridge in its nest, like the first drawing soft and recognizable. However, my staff was puzzled when she did her next card design only two days later and he brought it to my attention. He could not believe the difference and said if he had not seen it for himself he would have thought someone else had drawn it. The painting was harsh and the medium she chose to use also harsh, he thought she was just not in the mood but I wondered if there was more to it than that?
L is verbal, fairly high functioning, occasionally confused, a diamond that goes a little emerald at times but bounces back. She belongs in a click of four good friends we affectionately, to their delight, call “The Golden Girls”, very social loves being one of the group and joins in everything. Mild mannered and always pleasant.
Like my staff member I was puzzled by the change in her artistic expression and brought it to the attention of the nurse who found nothing apparent and believed she was in good health. However, we did ask the staff to keep an special eye on her and monitor anything unusual. Two days later L was having emergency surgery.
What this taught me is if you see something different go with your instinct, don’t dismiss it, bring it to the attention of staff who can monitor the resident’s behavior and health. If we had missed this clue that L was giving us things may have turned out very different.
With kind permission of L’s family, I am sharing her three pictures.
