Social Communication and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A Guide for Professionals

This guide for professionals was created by Margaret A. Struchen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Baylor College of Medicine, Research Scientist TIRR Memorial Hermann. Download the full PDF to find the following content:

• Definition of Social Communication
• Social Communication after TBI
• Social Communication and Outcomes
• Assessment of Social Communication Abilities
• Approaches to Treatment
• Evidence Base for Clinical Practice
• Application in Clinical Practice

Here is an excerpt of this guide:

Introduction

Definition of Social Communication

• Social communication involves sending and receiving messages to and from others.
  Social communication involves being able to understand others and what others meant to communicate. It also involves being able to express your thoughts and feelings to others in a way they can understand. Another term for aspects of social language is pragmatics.
• Social communication includes many skills. These skills can be verbal (the words that you say or write) or nonverbal (intonation, voice volume, use of gestures, facial expressions, body positioning). In fact, how something is said can be more important than what is said. Some examples of social communication skills include:
  
  • Starting and ending conversations
  • Staying on topic
  • Selecting and changing conversation topic
  • Inhibiting inappropriate communication behaviors
  • Turn-taking
  • Asking for clarification
  • Showing feelings with facial expressions
  • Using gestures
  • Speaking at an appropriate rate
  • Using tone of voice to express meaning and feelings
  • Eye contact

  A person needs to adjust how they communicate depending on the situation in which they are involved and the persons with whom they are talking. Context includes the physical setting, the social demands of the situation, and one’s relationship to the conversational partner(s) (e.g., friend, co-worker, stranger, neighbor, doctor, stranger).

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