Continuing communication: The effects of Right Hemisphere Damage
Graduate student to present at Student Academic Conference April 14
By Meghan Feir
For graduate student Stephanie Peterson, the research she will be presenting at this year’s Student Academic Conference hits close to home. After watching her grandmother experience right hemisphere brain damage (RHD) after a stroke and watching a family friend receive speech therapy, Peterson became interested in speech-language-hearing sciences at a young age.
“I saw how speech pathologists worked and how speech therapy positively impacted individual’s lives,” Peterson said.
Individuals with RHD can experience slurred speech and even swallowing issues, but this study will focus on other common symptoms. In Peterson’s presentation, “A Qualitative Study: Experiences of Communication Partners of Persons with Right Hemisphere Brain Damage,” she will bring attention to the effects of RHD and the impact it can have on the individual and those who communicate with them on a daily or weekly basis. She will specifically point out the reversal in roles that often occurs.
“My findings have shown a reversal role of the child and parent, which really hit me hard because the individual with the right hemisphere damage could be the parent and the children are now in the parental role,” Peterson said.
The difficulty and pressure of reversing responsibilities can take a major toll on relationships. Peterson wants to share strategies and tips that can help family members experiencing these situations, some of which include “Bringing up things that are of interest to them. They can be impulsive. They might not understand humor or sarcasm,” Peterson said. “Sometimes, they are very involved with themselves. Bring up things that help keep the relationship positive.”
Along with a few of her classmates, Peterson also presented at the 2014 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention in Orlando last November and was able to visit with experts in the field.
“Further research needs to be done in this area. Peterson said, “But the difficult part is to reach these individuals because of those communication barriers. “Language is usually held in the left hemisphere of our brain, but this really shows that communication can still be impacted by different deficits from damage to the right hemisphere.”