Awakenings, the 1990 film drama, based on the true story of a doctor working with catatonic patients affected by Encephalitis lethargica, used a drug to rouse people from their sleep state and bring them into the world that they had missed for perhaps thirty or forty years. Although they regressed to their catatonic state, they had an awareness of what it means to be alive and be able to touch, love, dance, sing. Imagine what it would be like not to be able to communicate: isolated, lonely, uninformed, untouched, perhaps unloved. What would you miss?

There are people in our communities who can no longer communicate. They deserve our understanding, our love and most of all, our compassion so that they do not have to live, like Sleeping Beauty, isolated and alone. The ABC of Compassionate Communication will give you hints and ideas of how we can improve our communication with everyone because which of us knows who among us are lost in their own silent world. Sue Silcox is an Ageless Grace Trainer and lives in Brisbane, Australia. Purchase the book here.