Katelyn Lancaster Professional Blog
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2012
Katelyn's Blog
My daughter has started a blog! It was actually an assignment in one of her college classes, but I hope she will keep it up. If you have a minute, click on the link below and take a look. Be sure to check out each of the pages and read some of her work. She's a very talented girl and I am so proud of her.
Katelyn Lancaster Professional Blog
Katelyn Lancaster Professional Blog
Sunday, August 7, 2011
My Soapbox About Texting
Over the years, I have tried to teach my children that communicating with their boyfriends/ girlfriends through texting is not always good. It is easy to misinterpret something that is being communicated to you if you cannot hear emotion in a persons voice or see the expression on their face.
The reason is that the left side of the brain is primarily concerned with logical thinking...words, numbers, language structure (texting), while the right side is expert on physical matters and creative thinking...sports, dancing, singing, making love, feelings (emotions).
In other words, the right brain FEELS and the left brain TELLS.
It is helpful to understand which side of the brain does what. For example, if you are dancing, playing a sport or making love, you have to let the right-brain do the work and keep the left-brain out of it. (If you let the logical left-brain get involved in sex you are on a sure path to disaster. Just sayin'.)
Too much logical left-brain activity is not good. It is important to have balance and use our creative right-brains regularly by engaging in sports, dance, etc. and showing our emotions. Yet I wonder if, over time, the social networking our generation is caught up in (facebook, twitter, instant messaging, texting...) will cause instability within our brains?
I think it would serve us well to communicate by talking into the phone whenever possible instead of always texting. When we speak into a phone, the person on the other end can hear emotion in our voice (cheerfulness, anger, frustration, disappointment, regret, etc.) and misunderstandings that come from written words can be avoided.
Roger Sperry, a neurobiologist, received the Noble Prize in Medicine in 1981 for discovering the aforementioned "split brain" functions. He said it best when he concluded his speech by saying, “The great pleasure and feeling in my right brain is more than my left brain can find the words to tell you." (nobleprize.org)
Ponder on that for awhile. :)
The reason is that the left side of the brain is primarily concerned with logical thinking...words, numbers, language structure (texting), while the right side is expert on physical matters and creative thinking...sports, dancing, singing, making love, feelings (emotions).
In other words, the right brain FEELS and the left brain TELLS.
It is helpful to understand which side of the brain does what. For example, if you are dancing, playing a sport or making love, you have to let the right-brain do the work and keep the left-brain out of it. (If you let the logical left-brain get involved in sex you are on a sure path to disaster. Just sayin'.)
Too much logical left-brain activity is not good. It is important to have balance and use our creative right-brains regularly by engaging in sports, dance, etc. and showing our emotions. Yet I wonder if, over time, the social networking our generation is caught up in (facebook, twitter, instant messaging, texting...) will cause instability within our brains?
I think it would serve us well to communicate by talking into the phone whenever possible instead of always texting. When we speak into a phone, the person on the other end can hear emotion in our voice (cheerfulness, anger, frustration, disappointment, regret, etc.) and misunderstandings that come from written words can be avoided.
Roger Sperry, a neurobiologist, received the Noble Prize in Medicine in 1981 for discovering the aforementioned "split brain" functions. He said it best when he concluded his speech by saying, “The great pleasure and feeling in my right brain is more than my left brain can find the words to tell you." (nobleprize.org)
Ponder on that for awhile. :)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Autism Advocate?
This picture reminds me of the time Cody got in trouble at the Middle School for typing "This is pissing me off." into the talking computer. He would never say a curse word, but he'd type one and let the computer say it! The teacher was upset with Cody, but I remember thinking "My child is brilliant. He found a way to tell them exactly how he feels."
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| Cody had one of these talking touchans as a child and he loved it! |
This picture reminds me of the time Cody got in trouble at the Middle School for typing "This is pissing me off." into the talking computer. He would never say a curse word, but he'd type one and let the computer say it! The teacher was upset with Cody, but I remember thinking "My child is brilliant. He found a way to tell them exactly how he feels."
Friday, September 10, 2010
Autism Tool
For a variety of reasons, people with disabilities may have a hard time communicating. This can be very frustrating for everyone involved. Sydspeak Inc. has a product called Talk To Me 100. It is an interactive tool for people who have difficulty with verbal expression. Talk To Me 100 allows the disabled person to press buttons, see and hear words, understand their meaning and communicate. I am excited about this tool for the following reason:
When my son Cody (blind and autistic) was in 9th grade, there was a talking computer in his classroom. One particular day, Cody spelled out "You Piss Me Off" on the keyboard and the computer verbalized it. His teacher, not amused, believed his behavior was worth discipline. When she called to tell me about it, my only thought was "Oh my gosh, Cody! You found a way to tell her exactly how you feel! Way to go!"
Talk To Me 100 takes 3 AAA batteries, measures less than one square foot and weighs only one pound.
I think I know what Cody will be getting for Christmas!
You may find the Talk to Me 100 at the following website:
http://www.autismone.org/content/talk-me-100-sydspeak-inc
Note from Ed Arranga founder of Autism One: "Talk to Me 100 was developed by a speech and language pathologist with 35 years of experience and her son who were committed in developing an effective product parents could afford. Mission accomplished."
When my son Cody (blind and autistic) was in 9th grade, there was a talking computer in his classroom. One particular day, Cody spelled out "You Piss Me Off" on the keyboard and the computer verbalized it. His teacher, not amused, believed his behavior was worth discipline. When she called to tell me about it, my only thought was "Oh my gosh, Cody! You found a way to tell her exactly how you feel! Way to go!"
Talk To Me 100 takes 3 AAA batteries, measures less than one square foot and weighs only one pound.
I think I know what Cody will be getting for Christmas!
You may find the Talk to Me 100 at the following website:
http://www.autismone.org/content/talk-me-100-sydspeak-inc
Note from Ed Arranga founder of Autism One: "Talk to Me 100 was developed by a speech and language pathologist with 35 years of experience and her son who were committed in developing an effective product parents could afford. Mission accomplished."
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