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800 Vinial Street, B408
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Phone:
724-494-2534
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Our Year-end Thoughts on Aphasia Recovery, 2017
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Editor's Note - Sharon Rennhack:
If you find this newsletter helps you and it gives you important information and treatment and practice ideas, please be sure to share with others on Facebook and in other social media communities.
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The staff of aphasiatoolbox wishes you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Rather than focus on what we have accomplished this year at
aphasiatoolbox and and at our sister company -
Telepractice Certification Community, we want to identify and discuss
ANSWERS to key questions that you may have about aphasia and discuss
key factors for your aphasia treatment and recovery. And - most importantly,
we offer our best thoughts for your ongoing recovery.
In this edition:
We are including here current articles and studies covering the dynamics of aphasia recovery. We discuss the importance of attention, being in an intensive aphasia program, the role of neuroplasticity in aphasia treatment and recovery, how telerpractice can improve your outcome, and the role of whole person recovery.
And, Bill Connors, in a video, offers his personal thoughts on what is required for your recovery.
The staff of aphasiatoolbox have a combined 85+ years helping people with aphasia recover, thru our aphasiatoolbox.com comprensive program. For more information, ideas and tools about aggressively traveling the recovery pathway,
Conclusion:
When you have questions about aphasia, the answer is aphasiatoolbox®. We ARE aphasia recovery.
For information on how we can expedite your recovery using the most effective and affordable tools, contact us at [email protected] ; OR click here to schedule a free consultation and select a 30 minute phone call with our an aphasia recovery expert.
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What We've Learned and Confirmed About Aphasia Recovery This Year:
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In this month's edition of the Aphasiatoolbox Newsletter and Video, Bill Connors discusses these studies on aphasia treatment and recovery. As a holiday gift to you, Bill answers these key questions covering aphasia treatment and recovery:
1. What is the role of attention and cognition in my aphasia recovery?
Limited attentional skills, I am absolutely convinced, create a significant
obstacle to aphasia recovery. The ability to focus, sustain and alternate one's attention is essential in interacting, recovering, and in responding to therapy and practice. The skilled aphasia clinician will appreciate the attention skills or impairment of a person recovering from aphasia and then either address those weaknesses, incorporate those strengths, or most often both. There are so many aphasia research and studies that confirm the need for addressing cognition skills and mental processing that we can no longer neglect to address these in aphasia rehabilitation and recovery.
Sources:
Speech Pathology.com,
August 13, 2007
There is a growing empirical literature regarding how aphasia symptoms and outcomes may be related to cognitive strengths and weaknesses, including the integrity of memory skills (e.g., Murray, 2004).
The assessment of aphasics' cognitive performance is challenging and such patients are generally excluded from studies that describe cognitive deficits after stroke.
Volume 4, 2017 - Issue 1
Researchers have questioned whether aphasia coincides with deficiencies in the non-linguistic executive functions needed to coordinate cognitive-linguistic skills. Attention, an important component of executive function, may be compromised in the presence of aphasia.
Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, February 2017, Vol. 2 (SIG 2), 7-14.
When thinking about what drives language recovery in aphasia, it is important to consider the possible role of attention processing. Not only is attention a fundamental skill that is required during even very simple tasks, it has also been shown to be impaired in individuals with aphasia. In this paper, we consider what successful attention during a typical language therapy session might look like, and discuss how impaired attention might negatively impact language treatment and recovery.
2. How DO I recover my speech and language following Stroke/TBI?
We would all like an Aphasia Roadmap to recovery of communication and speech skills. I
would
suggest these 10 keys to maximizing aphasia recovery:
- Find a speech pathologist (SLP) and practice coach who share your commitment to recovery and your aggressive attitude.
- Begin from a Whole Person Recovery perspective ( see below)
- Work in treatment to create and generate words and sentences rather than imitating and repeating them. Conversational speech is a creative process, not one in which we imitate others.
- Address the pragmatics of conversation such as: turn taking; clarifying verifying; eye contact; and using all modalities such as speech-writing-drawing-gestures-technology., to name a few.
- Set up and stick to a daily, aggressive practice schedule.
- Work on treatment activities and techniques that you can incorporate into your actual, daily life outside of therapy.
- Study how neuroplasticity works and then be sure that you brain's powerful ability to reconnect, grow and activate is exploited in your recovery program.
- Utilize a Mindfulness Approach to aphasia recovery that dissipates your aphasia stress - less focus and worry about being right/wrong. The fear of doing the wrong thing, especially in structured tasks, causes stress and anxiety in anyone. Focus instead on your thoughts and ideas and have faith as you let them flow into spoken ( or typed) words, phrases and sentences.
- As soon as possible, make sure that your speech practice is done in canonical ( subject - verb - object ) sentences in a conversational exchange between you and your SLP/coach.
- Realize that nothing in the brain happens in one place. Speech requires numerous brain processes to activate and interact. Be sure that your therapy and practice recognize this.
Intensive speech therapy helps months after stroke,
Reuters, Health News, March 8, 2017
Even months after a stroke, survivors can make major strides in communication and quality of life with intensive speech therapy, a recent study in Germany suggests.
3. What is neuroplasticity? How can that aid my recovery?
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the human brain to improve and change. We now know that your aphasia recovery treatment and program must exploit your brain's neuroplasticity in effective ways. Be sure to demand that your recovery program, treatment - and practice, take full advantage of your brain's potential. Contact me -
Bill Connors , to learn how to do this.
Sources:
Neurogenesis in Stroke Recovery. Koh SH, Park HH. Transl Stroke Res. 2017 Feb;8(1):3-13.
Stroke, resulting from limited blood flow to the brain, is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
4. What is Telepractice?
Telepractice is a cost-effective way to access speech therapy during your treatment and recovery. The staff at aphasiatoolbox are experts in using and combining telepractice AND neuroplasticity for your recovery goals. According to
ASHA, telepractice is "the application of telecommunications technology to the delivery of speech language pathology and audiology professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation. "
Source:
Researchers and practitioners have found that telepractice is an effective means of increasing access to high-quality services that meet children's unique needs and is a viable mechanism to deliver speech-language services for multiple purposes.
5. What is the Whole Person Recovery program for
people
with aphasia? How does it turn a PWA into a Person Recovering from Aphasia? How can it help my recovery?
We discussed our Whole Person Recovery program in last month's edition -"Build a Better Brain!";
click here to access the October edition of aphasiatoolbox .
I know that recovery can be difficult; I am offering you the tools for your recovery. Contact me to learn how to incorporate the Whole Person Recovery into your aphasia treatment and recovery program.
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Bill Connors discusses:
Thoughts on your Recovery
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In this month's edition of the Aphasiatoolbox Newsletter and Video, Bill Connors discusses ideas and tools for your aphasia recovery, including:
1. Don't settle for less.
2. Reject the Aphasia Plateau myth.
3. Use your hope and grit.
4. Work for your independence.
Aphasia Toolbox wishes you Happy Holidays!
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News/Events: Stroke/Aphasia
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1. Hope for Aphasia Patients
Cynthia K. Thompson, Ph.D., is a top researcher on language recovery from brain damage. Her research is funded in part by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). NIH MedlinePlus magazine caught up with the Ralph and Jean Sundin Professor of Communication Sciences at Northwestern University's School of Communication, where she leads the Center for the Neurobiology of Language Recovery. 2017
Jessica Peters has an extra step in her morning routine as she gets ready for work at the New England Dog Biscuit Shop in Salem. "My robot arm is awesome," said Peters, beaming. 2017
3.
UMAP Research Explores New Advances in Aphasia Treatment tDCS
A new method for potentially treating language disorders and prompting language recovery has emerged. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a form of brain stimulation researchers are exploring as treatment for a number of conditions, including aphasia. 2017
4.
Wemogee is Samsung's new emoji-based app for people with aphasia
Created by Samsung Electronics Italia, Wemogee is designed specifically to help people with aphasia by replacing texts with a series of emojis. Emojis may be one of the most underrated inventions of the modern world. We see them everywhere, and some criticize them for playing a role in dumbing us down. Yet, not only do they help us convey nuanced feelings in non-verbal conversations like texting, but they've also been extremely useful in identifying vulnerable children and domestic violence victims and helping them communicate abuse. In other words, emojis have transformed the way we interact with one another. 2017
Summary: Researchers have identified a brain mechanism that appears to support navigation systems used in both linguistic and spatial tasks. Source: National Research University Higher School of Economics. 2017
Executive Summary: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health challenge of vast, but insufficiently recognised, proportions. TBI is the leading cause of mortality in young adults and a major cause of death and disability across all ages in all countries. In high-income countries, the number of elderly people with TBI is increasing, mainly due to falls, while in low-income and middle-income countries, the burden of TBI from road traffic incidents is increasing. 2017
Gareth Gaskell reviews the evidence on memory consolidation during sleep. 2017
Summary: A new study provides evidence to support the long standing view that human speech and music may have roots in biological processes that are shared across a variety of different animals. Source: McGill University, 2017
Michael Kosh enjoys getting outside and doing lawn work, pruning trees and bundling the limbs at the home of his daughter and son-in-law where he lives with his wife, Rhonda, in Stephensen, Va. He plays with his grandchildren-4-year-old twin boys and a 2-year-old granddaughter-a year after experiencing 10 strokes in one night attributed to septic shock following surgery. 2017
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