If you have a speech or hearing problem,you can add video or text to your phone calls to improve communication. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Skype are three free online tools that can help you communicate better by combining voice, video, and/or text.
This post was inspired by Yvonne Law, another speech-language pathologist in the SLPs in Home Health Care Facebook group. She told me that she saw some of her patients “respond via instant messaging during phone calls” through Facebook, which prompted me to investigate other online options besides internet-based telephone relay service options.
Free DIRECT download: Add video or text to your phone calls (patient handout). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)
Outline:
- Three popular free internet tools.
- Benefits of using the internet
- If you have a speech impairment
- If you have a hearing impairment
Three popular free internet tools
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is a messaging app for your mobile device or computer. The service is free, although depending on your data plan and your usage, you may incur charges.
The app offers many features including instant communication via text, voice, or video. You can:
- send text, voice, or video messages.
- talk live via voice or video calls (free via WiFi).
- communicate with one person or many.
If you are talking live, you can send and receive instant text messages at the same time. This is a handy feature if you have a speech or hearing impairment.
WhatsApp is a very popular messaging app that is very similar to Facebook Messenger, and in fact was bought by Mark Zuckerburg in 2014 according to Wikipedia.
Like Facebook Messenger, the service operates on mobile devices or computers. Service is free on WiFi, otherwise data charges may apply if you exceed your data plan’s limits.
As with Messenger, you can:
- send text, voice, or video messages.
- talk live via voice or video.
- communicate with one person or many.
WhatsApp includes automatic end-to-end encryption, so messages are private.
I don’t use WhatsApp, so I’m not 100% sure, but it looks like you can use the instant text messaging feature during voice or video calls. Let me know!
Skype
Skype offers free domestic and international service including:
- voice or video calls.
- video messaging.
- instant messaging.
- texting to cell phones (SMS).
You can also use Skype to call landlines and mobile phones directly, for a very small fee, which may be a good idea if you are roaming on your cell phone.
Calls and messaging can be between two individuals or between groups. There is a small fee for group video calls, but only one person pays, and the call is free for everyone else.
During a voice or video call, you can use the instant text messaging feature.
Skype also offers free translation (over 50 languages) and interpretation (between 12 languages). Here is a good review of Skype.
Benefits of using the internet
- Free (once you have the device and connection via WiFi or within your data plan)
- Multiple modes of communication in each conversation
- Voice
- Video
- Text
- One-to-one or in groups
- Real-time or at your convenience
Here are some ways you can use Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Skype:
- Voice-to-voice: both you and the other person speak as if on a standard telephone.
- Video: you see and hear each other while talking.
- Voice-to-video: you hear each other, but only one of you sees the other.
- Instant messaging: you communicate by text.
- Video/voice + instant messaging: you see/hear each other plus communicate via text messaging.
This flexibility can be very useful to people who have speech or hearing problems, like Yvonne’s patients demonstrated.
If you have a speech impairment
Mild to moderate speech impairment
If you have a mild to moderate speech impairment, you likely use speech for most of your communication. You may find that you have to repeat yourself often over the telephone. If this bothers you, or makes communication difficult, consider these options.
You can use an app such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Skype to have a voice call, just like a telephone call.
If you add video to your call, then the other person can watch your face and body language which can really help improve their understanding.
If the other person still has trouble understanding you, you can type only the words not understood. These apps can display both the video screen and the texting box at the same time.
Moderate to severe speech impairment
If you have a more moderate to severe impairment, you can listen to the person you’re talking to and type your responses. You can also use a full-text method of communicating, such as instant messaging or emailing.
If you find that you have to type too much, you may want to try the free Speech to Speech (STS) relay service or Hearing Carry Over (HCO) relay service for voice conversations.
If you use a speech-generating device (SGD), then you can compose messages in the device to send over the internet in voice or text format. You can also use your SGD during voice or video calls.
If you have a hearing impairment
Mild to moderate hearing impairment
If you have a mild to moderate hearing impairment, you may prefer to use speech most of the time. When using a standard telephone, you may find that you have to ask for the other person to repeat themselves often (or just guess what they’re saying). If this is the case, then you may want to consider other options.
You can use video to see the other person’s face and body language on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Skype. This can really improve how much you understand, and how well the other person can understand you.
If you don’t understand something, you can repeat what you understood and ask the other person to type what you missed in the text section of the app. You can see both the video and the text box on screen at the same time.
Moderate to severe hearing impairment
With a moderate to severe hearing impairment, you may find that you don’t understand much of what you hear. That may especially be the case with women’s or children’s voices, or if there is background noise.
If the person you’re talking to doesn’t mind, they can type to you while you speak normally to them using Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Skype.
If your conversational partner doesn’t like typing, you may want to consider one of the free telephone relay services. There are many services available for people who are hard of hearing or Deaf, including traditional telephone relay services which use a landline and internet-based telephone relay services.
Share other ways to use the internet
What other ways have you (or someone you know) used the internet to improve communication? Please share your ideas below.
Free DIRECT download: Add video or text to your phone calls (patient handout). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)
Lisa earned her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Maryland, College Park and her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego.
She participated in research studies with the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the University of Maryland in the areas of aphasia, Parkinson’s Disease, epilepsy, and fluency disorders.
Lisa has been working as a medical speech-language pathologist since 2008. She has a strong passion for evidence-based assessment and therapy, having earned five ASHA Awards for Professional Participation in Continuing Education.
She launched EatSpeakThink.com in June 2018 to help other clinicians be more successful working in home health, as well as to provide strategies and resources to people living with problems eating, speaking, or thinking.
Be First to Comment