The Importance of Communication
The importance of communication
Communication is something we learn to do from the minute we’re born. Babies cry for lots of different reasons whether there cold, hungry, dirty, or lonely. As a parent we learn to respond to the different sound each cry makes and before you know it communication has been established. As we get older we learn different ways of communicating mainly speech but others consist of eye contact, posture, proximity, facial expressions, listening and silence which is collectively known as body language. Communication is a very valuable tool without which life would be pretty dull and lonely. However there is a right way and a wrong way to communicate with someone. Communication used in a friendly way can be both reassuring and comforting to someone in distress or who maybe anxious about something. Being able to calm someone down who is scared or distressed isn’t an easy task but it’s about being able to listen and understand the meaning behind their discomfort and try to make it better which is a very rewarding experience. It’s about gaining someone’s trust so that person feels safe and relaxed in your company who knows you might even become friends. I have been researching more into bad communication and want to make this the focal point of the exercise. Used negatively communication becomes a form of abuse, either physically or mentally. I came across a couple of articles about communication breakdown in residential care homes one of which being Winterbourne View care home which cares for people with learning difficulties and autism. Four people were arrested from there in 2011 after secret filming by BBC’s Panorama showed a pattern of serious abuse. Instead of trying to get on with the residents some of the care staff were seen pinning them down with chairs and kicking them until they apologized for whatever the staff thought they should be sorry for. It didn’t matter whether they had done anything wrong or not they were repeatedly
Communication is something we learn to do from the minute we’re born. Babies cry for lots of different reasons whether there cold, hungry, dirty, or lonely. As a parent we learn to respond to the different sound each cry makes and before you know it communication has been established. As we get older we learn different ways of communicating mainly speech but others consist of eye contact, posture, proximity, facial expressions, listening and silence which is collectively known as body language. Communication is a very valuable tool without which life would be pretty dull and lonely. However there is a right way and a wrong way to communicate with someone. Communication used in a friendly way can be both reassuring and comforting to someone in distress or who maybe anxious about something. Being able to calm someone down who is scared or distressed isn’t an easy task but it’s about being able to listen and understand the meaning behind their discomfort and try to make it better which is a very rewarding experience. It’s about gaining someone’s trust so that person feels safe and relaxed in your company who knows you might even become friends. I have been researching more into bad communication and want to make this the focal point of the exercise. Used negatively communication becomes a form of abuse, either physically or mentally. I came across a couple of articles about communication breakdown in residential care homes one of which being Winterbourne View care home which cares for people with learning difficulties and autism. Four people were arrested from there in 2011 after secret filming by BBC’s Panorama showed a pattern of serious abuse. Instead of trying to get on with the residents some of the care staff were seen pinning them down with chairs and kicking them until they apologized for whatever the staff thought they should be sorry for. It didn’t matter whether they had done anything wrong or not they were repeatedly