Language: An Expanded View

Off the wall, not your typical awayfromthemind post, maybe so, but I had to share. Listening to Deepak Chopra sparked a thought, then a series of ideas, hence the blog. Hope you will find his words as thought provoking as I do.

“Language is the maker of reality…material reality”

When you think of language, do you immediately go to words, images, verbalizations, writing? I would imagine this is the first concept most people have, words comprise language, but that is really a very narrow view. Verbal language is only a piece of whole picture. Preverbal language exists, and more importantly, serves as the basis for the more common concept of language, words, ideas, insights communicated with one another. All living things have preverbal language abilities, which consist of information, sound, energy, and vibration. So, wouldn’t it be true that with sharper sensory perception skills, preverbals may be sufficient for some interaction and exchange? In my experience the answer is yes. More is often said in the absence of words, the look in a person’s eyes, the movement of their body, a small sound, a sigh or a moan can say it all.

Now what I am wondering is how this can impact the people in our world who have lost their verbal language. How can we as caregivers, therapists, and family members of those aging reframe our idea of language and communication? Would it be beneficial to more astutely observe a person, watching, listening, and feeling to find preverbal communications? Would it be helpful for a daughter caring for her mother in the end stages of dementia to have someone tell her that yes language as she has always known it is gone, but in a broader sense there may be more to the dying parent’s interaction than meets the less-aware eye?

Preverbal together with verbal language create the experiences of our human reality. As the aged veer further and further away from words it is up to us to move into their reality and look towards the energy and information conveyed in so many other ways so that interaction continues and thrives as long as life does.

Aging and Eating

If you have met me, heard a seminar, or read something I have written you know that I am a big proponent of keeping a thorough check on the nutrition of my elderly patients. What are they eating? Is it just caloric intake, or quality caloric intake? Vitamin deficiencies cause issues with clarity in thinking, mental speed, focus, concentration, just to name a few. The risk exists for the average person whose diet is not generally filled with all of the nutrition needed, but it’s even greater for the geriatric population. Watch out for the most common B12 and D.

So what can be done when the elderly person starts losing weight, begins eating less and less?

• · Don’t try to change an elderly person’s eating habits completely. This will often be met with strong resistance.

• · Work with nutritive supplements in between meals, and hope that “real food” intake will also increase once overall health improves.

• · Provide small meals with few items. A huge amount of food presented in one setting can seem overwhelming.

• Eat with the person who is having trouble. We all like to have a nice meal with the ones we care about.
  

Last, but most certainly not least, I have to say it... keep quality of life in mind. Make sure the supplements you give taste great! If you wouldn’t drink or eat it don’t expect them to.