Care recipient (cr) has non-verbal communication issues e g facial expressions hand gestures the non-verbal communication may be socially inappropriate distracting irritating or inconsistent with what the cr is saying verbally

Try: Explain to the cr that some of his or her non-verbal communication may be inappropriate for specific social situations provide specific examples of this such as looking around instead of paying attention to the person who is talking shrugging shoulders to indicate i don’t care standing too close to someone and invading personal space slapping the other person on the back or trying to high five him or her unwanted hugging and kissing politely ask the cr to stand closer or further away politely ask cr to stop any distracting motions talk to cr about how to act in certain situations before he or she is in those situations role play the right way to behave in a particular social setting provide the cr with coaching regarding the right amount of eye contact to keep with other individuals tell cr you are confused by the difference in his or her body language and spoken message briefly explain what you have seen and heard explain to the cr that you are uncomfortable with this because you really don’t know how he or she feels and the true meaning of what is being communicated encourage the cr to focus on what is being said along with body language and how it is said provide coaching feedback and encouragement so the cr can make positive changes praise all improvements decide on a signal that you can give to the cr when he or she is engaging in problematic non-verbal communication and behavior that way the cr may be able to make adjustments on the fly in actual social situations

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Social, So-So Verbal Comm, Poor Verbal Comm, Fully Aware, Somewhat Aware

Information: n/a

References: Adapted from www traumaticbraininjuryatoz org traumatic brain injury a guide for caregivers of service members and veterans – module 2 by the office of the u s surgeon general no date

Keywords: Nonverbal communication eye contact inappropriate behavior

*This information is listed as a Tip and is not explicitly medically licensed

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