Assignment Task:
Mary is a 50-year-old mother of two and grandmother to four young grandchildren. To this point, she has been an active, avid participant in the community and works as a singer with a local group.
While driving to work one day, Mary was involved in a serious car crash that resulted in permanent brain damage. She has lost the ability to walk, and her expressive language abilities have been severely impacted. At this point, her speech is unclear, and she is unable to write. It appears that her receptive language abilities appear to be largely unaffected. The hospital that initially treated Mary has released her to the care of her eldest daughter. Among other treatments, including physiotherapy, she is on a wait list for a communications assessment.
At present, her communication is dependent on moving her right hand and making simple gestures and utterances for "yes" and "no." Due to the frustration of being unable to speak clearly, the inability to walk, and to live a full life as she did previously, Mary has developed numerous aggressive behaviours. These include banging on the wheelchair or hitting items or individuals in her range. Self-harm behaviours include biting herself and picking at her skin.
You are a part-time support worker who has been hired to help Mary with her daily self-care activities. Her inability to communicate and the ensuing behaviours worry you, and you want to ease both her physical and mental discomfort. Mary's daughter is understandably upset and seems most concerned about her mother's physical impairments. As Mary waits for a complete assessment, what can you, as a support worker, do to enable her communication?
Mary's strengths and areas of need
- Justification for your choice of communication device
- Images of your device (the device can also be displayed while presenting)
- Importance of person-centred planning
- Critical role of communication in supporting people with complex needs
- Partnering in advocacy
- Rights of all people to autonomy, informed consent, and privacy