Reduce Family Stress

My Pain Alert Scale Communication Tool, by Goldstein, Schippits, and Malloy, is an incredibly useful guide.  It was made to help parents and caregivers achieve better communication with both adults and children who have limited communication skills.  This guide is designed to enable those with yes/no capability, any individual with a disability that might hinder their communication skills, to let people around them know what kind of pain they are experiencing and how to relieve it.

The first section of the guide instructs the reader on each section of the guide, informing them the best way to use them.  In the guide's second section, it explains each of the five levels of pain, giving examples as to what might cause them as well as the appropriate response to each one.  Caregivers can use the guide to review each step with the individual so that they will be able to identify and categorize the different kinds of pain when they experience it.  The third section teaches different signs that are applicable to each level on the scale. Using the ASL that is taught in the guide, the individual will be able to communicate with their caregiver even if they are unable to speak, regardless of whether their inability is due to disability, injury, or pain. After that the guide provides a song with which individuals and their caregivers can review and memorize the different levels of pain and the appropriate responses with ease.