I have been running a communication group for clients with a diagnosis of Huntington’s disease for three years. The goals of the group started out very clinical: to get individuals to use the assistive technology devices, to focus on memory and language based tasks and to identify speech strategies to maximise clarity. I must now confess to forgetting the most important part during the early days of the group: to get to know each other and chat. Participants spoke of where they had travelled, their likes/dislikes, revealed family secrets, got very political during the elections and had the opportunity to socialise. The lesson: you can’t have an enjoyable and effective communication group without incorporating real life experiences, communication and conversation into the fabric of the group. It is possible to work on speech therapy goals whilst having fun. I shelved the therapy exercise book and moved to making therapy about real experiences and conversation. What we like to cook, recalling the ingredients, recalling where we’ve holidayed, why we didn’t like certain people, debated controversial tropics, talked about our fears, reflected on all the jobs we have done and all of the people we have met. All this real dialogue occurred whilst working on our communication skills and practicing using our assistive and augmentative communication devices. The members of the groups may have changed over time but the group is going strong.
Group therapy is a fantastic way of consolidating work done in individual therapy. If you would like to find out more then contact Speakology on 02036332499. Find out more about Huntington’s Disease at http://hda.org.uk/
Bindu Vekaria
