Trade Secrets by Richard Denning

Aphasia - an aggressive, bad tempted beast that never gives up - it can attack without warning!  

As communication is the key of all things that brings society together, when you are hit by the " mozzie bite "  itself, everything you know can suddenly become difficult.  

So why do i say its a "mozzie bite"?  

Because...
it can creep on to you, uninvited....suddenly can hit u - make u scratch and worn under the rawness;  and then it just won't go away.  Then it can clear, BUT....suddenly can strike again!  And there's not much u can do.  Reading, writing, typing, understand, speaking......things that used to be easy, so simple, suddenly become remarkable difficult.  Then again though, you can get pass the "mozzie bite" - notice the rascal early, smack the sod and you dont have to itch so badly....not everytime but there are ways......

And so after years of "practice" - working in an office environment, there are certain ways to get passed the 

1) One of the most frustrating things of the mozzie bite for me can often be NUMBERS - you get that info on the phone, it can be difficult to store them correctly.  The digits are always very similar, ie, 4 or 5?  6 or 7?  Very similar.  And for a telephone number, often the amount will be minimum 11 digits!    Something to manage to get across quickly - Say for example, a client suddenly says he will give you his number.  Getting 5 digits all at once can be too much - ask for 2 digits please, straight away.  Yeah ok, maybe most people never ask for this, but there's nothing wrong from asking for that.  something like - "ok, just to make sure can you give me 2 numbers at a time?" - 99% they will just say "sure".  2 digits sometimes can be enough.

2) Always ask for email - say "thanks for the number, just to make sure, can you send me an email" - I may have missed half of the numbers anyway, so you can say "yeah thanks thanks good, just in case could you send me the number by email and info by email?" I've done that countless times!   

3) If u haven't asked for 2 digits, and suddenly u get 5 digits - if its got you, just dont bother, concentrate on the next lot.  Store on the last amount or do the best you can.  Then, after a small conversation, you can ask "just to make sure what was the number again?" You know you will get 5 digits, so be ready to store the first numbers.

4) One day, you may have to phone up someone and there's nothing you can do about it.  You may have to question a shop for some details, etc.  Can be stressful - just be ready for all details before hand!  All written down, everything you can think of.  Right down the core details on a bit of paper beforehand.  The product, the address, the question, and what may else be useful.  Just don't phone up unless  you have as much detail as you can, otherwise you can have serious stress you don't need.

5) Sometimes it depends on the job, or how important the job maybe.  If your boss suddenly comes in, all guns blazing with info you haven't got a chance of getting the whole lot - yet it may not be a must do in the next 10 seconds - take your time.  Right down what you could store, and then in the next hour or so, you can say "sorry boss, but i was just finishing off a last job earlier - and i lost my paper i had written down, can you just give me the last bit?" - you couldn't do that every day, but once every now and then, you can use it.  Just blankly saying "what?" a hundred times won't do anyone any favours.

6) Recording device - there are some very useful recording devices on the market, excellent way of storing information that you may not be able to store.  Very simple - start recording, take the phone, and off you go.  Then play back, and all the info you just couldn't store...is there.  You don't even have to ask "can you say that again?" a thousand times, magic.

7) caught off guard! - Ok, you could be walking across the office, when suddenly your boss pops up and fires off a job needed quickly; you haven't got a pen, nor were you ready for the info!  Whenever i get this, i make sure that i store the most crucial bit of info - the name of the product.  The text and the reason of the job are important, but the best info would be the name of the product.  If you don't get all the data you need, then find the name of the product, and any info from it - come back and say - "boss, that's the one isn't it?" - the boss will then give you the needed info again.  Should be enough this time.

8) There are times when you maybe in a conversation with a colleague, when the words just won't make much sense - this is aphasia, these things happen!  Certain words, or a sentence, just won't quite merge into a full understanding.  And they may expect an answer - what do you do!?  "What?" or "Huh?" ten times?  Sometimes it just won't work out.  You maybe able to even remember the sentence after - but not to fully comprehend.  So sometimes i deflect the question - "Ok, i will have to check that out" - "Perhaps, but are you sure about that?" - Deflection can be enough sometimes, and once again you could send an email after.  In fact, i probably say that everyday.

9) Limit the problem beforehand - ie. i asked a friend to play golf over the weekend; we agreed to play at around 12-3pm.  I also said i would arrange the booking (oh er!).  So, if i now phone up and ask for any possible time from 12-3pm, i could get all sort of options - quarter pass one, half pass two, twelve forty five, etc - it could be a problem for any aphasic person.  So although i will have 3 hours, when i first phone up, I'm going to limit the responses - "Hello, is there a round of golf from 12 to 1pm?" - if there's nothing for that slot, i will then ask for 1-2pm; and that follows to 2-3pm.  It's easier to limit the responses, as long as it's not a problem afterwards.