For people with aphasia interested in recovery, we're offering a coupon for a free consultation, first treatment session and group cafe. There is no obligation! And no strings attached, just an opportunity to gain information and advice from the world's aphasia recovery experts. Our accounting department's not happy with this free offer but what the heck......we are here to get people talking.
Contact us or call 724.494.2534 to redeem this offer and schedule your free consultation and initial treatment session.
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VIDEO and FREE PROTOCOL:
Gradual Reading Activity
Editor's Note:
In this month's video, Master Clinician Bill Connors offers a free protocol and discusses the Aphasiatoolbox Gradual Reading Activity.
This activity allows the person recovering from aphasia to be able to read aloud in a fluent manner, using three short sentences presented in a cumulative manner.
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| Bill Connors discusses the Aphasiatoolbox Gradual Reading Activity. |
Time: 5:56
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FEATURE: Junior Editor LC - "I enjoy conversing in groups."
Editor's Note:
This is the fourth column from LC who is an Aphasiatoolbox client and Junior Editor for this newsletter. LC is a young woman who had her stroke/aphasia following a motor vehicle accident. These are her own thoughts on the benefit of conversational cafes and treatment groups; she created this article with less than 60% assistance.
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What is the benefit of the cafes and treatment groups to me?
The words conversation and communication have similar traits - ie, talking. As a Person Recovering from Aphasia, I was unsure and nervous when participating in a conversation. I had trouble even thinking or formulating my Subject - Verb - Object sentence! Now, although I'm slow at times, I can join in a conversation.
Early on with my work at aphasiatoolbox, I joined one of the conversational cafes. This group is primarily about conversation in a safe and supported manner; in addition to conversation, we have also been working on and drilling pronouns and pronouns in sentences.
These drills have helped me to be able to use pronouns in conversation!
Later on, I also joined the Young Person's Group and the Women's Group. The Young Person's Group talks about the path to back to school or work and current events; the Women's Group includes - among other things, cooking/ recipes and the use of numbers in cooking, - all to help me to converse more and to be able to get my point across in conversation. As soon as these groups started, I groaned, "I can't! They are better." I felt intimidated because some people talked more.
But, I remembered - they all have Aphasia too.
Each person with aphasia has his or her own path to recovery; my path now has allowed me to feel free-er, more excited and happier as I reconnect to my dream of going back to school and to work.
Call us at 724-494-2534 or contact us if you want information on how conversation and groups worked for LC.
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VIDEO: Interview with Brooke Lang
Editor's Note:
Brooke Lang received her Master's Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008. She completed her Clinical Fellowship year at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and
was involved with
PIRATE
(Program for Intensive Residential Aphasia Treatment and Education) for 6 years.
She joined Aphasiatoolbox.com about four weeks ago. Her specific areas of interest include phonological processing impairments in aphasia and acquired apraxia that affects speech production.
Time: 5:55
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Editor's Select News
on Aphasia
Editor's Note:
Here are some selected current articles on aphasia:
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FEATURE: Aphasia Communication/Treatment Groups
Editor's Note:
As we have been saying throughout this current edition, conversation is one of the main keys to aphasia recovery.
Listed here are some aphasia centers that offer communication and/other treatment groups; these are groups whose programs are endorsed by the aphasiatoolbox.com advisory team. For information on aphasia groups in your area, please
contact us.
If you have an aphasia conversation group and would like it listed here,
contact us to have our advisory team add your group.
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This newsletter now has more than 21,000 contacts all over the world. Congratulations to Sharon and her staff. If you have enjoyed this information, be sure to share it with friends and colleagues on Facebook and social media.
May 27, 2015
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May 2015 - Be aggressive.
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This is Sharon Rennhack, the chief editor for the aphasiatoolbox newsletter.
Four years ago, when I was told I wouldn't recover my speech and writing and my conversation was in a quagmire, I decided to get aggressive. Look, from one person who's had aphasia to another, you need to take charge and surround yourself with people that are going to be aggressive in helping you recover. This month's newsletter edition looks at the process of aphasia recovery.
What are some of the things that are required for your recovery to be acceptable to you? While each person with aphasia is different and outcomes can also be different, some factors remain the same.
In our
October 2014 newsletter covering neuroplasticity, we discussed the 12 tenets of aphasia recovery, including aggressive treatment and practice.
Do you want to converse again talking in sentences like LC? Read and write again? Or, are you, as Bill Connors discusses in his video this month, mired in aphasia and frustrated with your lack of recovery?
To kick up your aphasia recovery program a notch, contact us at
[email protected]
.
Sharon Rennhack
Chief Editor
Aphasiatoolbox
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Editor's Note: Be aggressive in your recovery program and demand the same from others.
One of our major tenets of Aphasia Recovery is:
ensure that you, the person recovering from aphasia, aggressively assumes responsibility for your recovery plan.
That includes the other people you work with! 
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Facts about aphasiatoolbox.com
Editor's Note: Aphasiatoolbox.com has helped hundreds of people to converse again. On our staff alone, we have six people successfully and aggressively recovering from aphasia (PRA) including
Paul Berger,
Nancy McCambridge, and
Sharon Rennhack.
We have helped people with aphasia to go back to work and back to school.
- If you are a person with aphasia, contact us to get started with your personal aggressive, effective recovery program;
- Aphasiatoolbox offers consultation services for SLPs; contact us for information on referrals.
Contact us o
r call us at 724.494.2534 to schedule your free consultation or referral.
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FEATURE:
Use of Groups and Conversation in Aphasia Treatment and Recovery
Editor's Note:
Conversation is what aphasia recovery
is all about. Conversation is the spoken informal exchange of information, ideas or thoughts by 2 or more people following rules of etiquette such as turn taking.
Recovering the ability to converse is nearly always one of the most important goal for people with
aphasia
. Aphasiatoolbox.com offers different types of groups for the person recovering from aphasia:
Mixed conversational groups - led by a person with aphasia
Men's Group - Conversational and Treatment group
Women's Group - Conversational and Treatment Group
Young Person's Group - (under the age of 40) -Conversational and Treatment Group
The Writing Class
- Effective writing skills for sentences and paragraphs
Primary Progressive Aphasia Group - Conversational and Treatment Group
We also offer a Coaches group and a Caregiver group. See our article in this edition about conversation groups in your area.
In his
February 2010 newsletter
, Master Clinician Bill Connors mentioned the benefits of conversational and treatment groups:
Collaborative work in groups provides important opportunities that individual treatment work lacks. First, it provides the social support inherent in human interaction especially with those who share a life-changing event such as stroke or head injury. Secondly, it offers the opportunity to learn both directly and vicariously from others by observing, listening and watching. Thirdly, social work demands communicative engagement, collaboration and reciprocal action, all critical for maximizing aphasia recovery. Fourthly, it creates favorable conditions for PWA to practice their skills learned in therapy sessions in a safe, comfortable social environment with their peers. Finally, it provides the speech therapist the chance to do formative assessment with his/her client, assessing progress and growing the individual treatment plan by direct observation of the patient in action with others.
We realize that group treatment and interaction is not for everyone. About 40 % of our clients do not want to participate in aphasia groups mostly because they are very active in family and community groups already despite their communication problems. For those 60 % who do benefit, groups are essential to recovery.
If you're interested to learn how one of our groups can help you, please
Contact us
or call us at 724-494-2534.
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VIDEO: Bill Connors discusses: " What to do about the lack of recovery in your aphasia program."
Editor's Note:
Are you mired in your aphasia and frustrated with your lack of recovery?
In this month's video, Master Clinician Bill Connors discusses aphasia recovery.
Time: 3:11
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