Communication Skills

Dr. Khalid Abdullah Al-Attas

Professor & Consultant Pediatric Neurologist

Objectives

We will Discuss in this Lecture :

1. Concept of Professionalism .
2. Communication Disorders .

Concept of Professionalism

Society provides a profession with economic, political, and social

rewards. Professions have specialized knowledge and the potential
to maintain a monopoly on power and control, remaining relatively
autonomous. The professions autonomy can be limited by societal
needs. A profession exists as long as it fulfills its responsibilities for
the social good .

Professionalism for Pediatricians

The American Board of Pediatrics adopted professional

standards in 2000, and the AAP updated the policy statement
and technical report on professionalism in 2007, as
follows:

Honesty/integrity
Honesty/integrity is the consistent regard for the highest standards
of behavior and the refusal to violate ones personal and
professional codes. Maintaining integrity requires awareness of
situations that may result in conflict of interest or that may result in
personal gain at the expense of the best interest of the
patient.

Continue

Communication Skills
Dr. Racan Sharbini
Consultant Pediatric Psychologist

Reliability/ responsibility
Reliability/responsibility includes accountability to ones patients
and their families, to society to ensure that the publics needs are
addressed, and to the profession to ensure that the ethical precepts
of practice are upheld. Inherent in this responsibility is reliability in
completing assigned duties or fulfilling commitments. There also
must be a willingness to accept responsibility for errors .

Respect for Others

Respect for others is the essence of humanism. The pediatrician
must treat all persons with respect and regard for their individual
worth and dignity, be aware of emotional, personal, family, and
cultural influences on a patients well-being, rights, and choices of
medical care and respect appropriate patient confidentiality.

Compassion/ Empathy
Compassion/empathy is a crucial component of medical practice.
The pediatrician must listen attentively, respond humanely to the
concerns of patients and family members, and provide appropriate
empathy for and relief of pain, discomfort, and anxiety as part of
daily practice.

Self-improvement
Self-improvement is the pursuit of and commitment to providing
the highest quality of health care through lifelong learning and
education. The pediatrician must seek to learn from errors and
aspire to excellence through self-evaluation and acceptance of the
critiques of others.

Continue

Communication Skills
Dr. Ali Saeed Baselem
Professor & Consultant of Social Medicine

Self-awareness/ knowledge of limits

Self-awareness/knowledge of limits includes recognition of the
need for guidance and supervision when faced with new or
complex responsibilities. The pediatrician also must be insightful
regarding the impact of his or her behavior on others and cognizant
of appropriate professional boundaries.

Communication/ Collaboration
Communication/collaboration is crucial to providing the best care
for patients. Pediatricians must work cooperatively and
communicate effectively with patients and their families and with
all health care providers involved in the care of their patients.

Altruism/ Advocacy
Altruism/advocacy refers to unselfish regard for and devotion to the
welfare of others. It is a key element of professionalism. Selfinterest or the interests of other parties should not interfere with
the care of ones patients and their families.

Continue

Communication Skills
Dr. Abdullah Kafi
Professor & Consultant of Psychiatric Disease

Communication Disorders

Speech-Language Impairment
Parents often bring the concern of speech delay to the physicians
attention when they compare their young child with others of the
same age (Table 10-9). The most
common causes of the speech delay are MR, hearing impairment,
social deprivation, autism, and oral-motor abnormalities.

If a problem is suspected based on screening with tests such as the

Denver II or other standard screening test (Early Language
Milestone Scale), a referral to a specialized hearing and speech
center is indicated. While awaiting the results of testing or initiation
of speech-language therapy, parents should be advised to speak
slowly and clearly to the child (and avoid baby talk). Parents and
older siblings should read to the speechdelayed child frequently.

Speech disorders include articulation, fluency, and resonance

disorders. Articulation disorders include difficulties producing
sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that
other people cannot understand what is being said. Fluency
disorders include problems such as stuttering, the condition in
which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages,
repetitions (st-st-stuttering), or prolonging sounds and syllables
(ssssstuttering).

problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of a childs voice that

distract listeners from what is being said. Language disorders can be
either receptive or expressive. Receptive disorders refer to
difficulties understanding or processing language. Expressive
disorders include difficulty putting words together, limited
vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate
way.

Speech-language pathologists (speech or oral-motor therapists)

assess the speech, language, cognitive-communication, and
swallowing skills of children; determine what types of
communication problems exist; and the best way to treat these
challenges. Speech-language pathologists skilled at working with
infants and young children are also vital in training parents and
infants in other oral-motor skills, such as teaching the parent of an
infant born with cleft lip and palate how to feed the infant
appropriately.

Speech-language therapy involves having a speechlanguage

specialist work with a child on a one-on-one basis, in a small group,
or directly in a classroom to overcome a specific disorder using a
variety of therapeutic strategies. Language intervention activities
involve having a speech-language specialist interact with a child by
playing and talking to him or her. The therapist may use pictures,
books, objects, or ongoing events to stimulate language
development. The therapist also may model correct pronunciation
and use repetition exercises to build speech and language skills.
Articulation therapy involves having the therapist model correct
sounds and syllables for a child, often during play activities.

Children enrolled in therapy early in their development

(<3 years of age) tend to have better outcomes than children
who begin therapy later. Older children can make progress in
therapy, but progress may occur more slowly because these
children often have learned patterns that need to be modified or
changed. Parental involvement is crucial to the success of a childs
progress in speech-language therapy.

References
Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics 6th edition