December, 2010

Happy Holidays!!!

by Ognjen Todic on December 22, 2010

Wishing you all a happy holiday season. May 2011 bring you each much peace and happiness.

Over the next few weeks we will be taking a short blogging break — we will be back mid January.

In the meantime, enjoy this card…courtesy of the Aphasia Center of California, created by the late Bob Denty, an ACC participant, and a stroke survivor with aphasia.

Santa

Using Skype: Basics

by Tom Devine on December 15, 2010

In our previous posts, “Skype: Free Video Calling and “Installing Skype”, we described Skype’s features and gave instructions for installing Skype on a Windows XP computer. In this post, we’ll describe how to use Skype’s free computer-to-computer calling services. Once again, we’ll focus on Windows XP, since most of our readers use that system. Skype has a somewhat different look on Macs and other operating systems (Windows Vista, Linux, etc.), but its basic features are the same.

Starting Skype

When you start up Skype, you may see a window that looks like this:

Skype Welcome Screen (Windows XP)

You may want to explore the options on this window at a future time, but some of them could lead you into areas that are 1) not free, and 2) confusing. So for the time being, let’s get rid of this screen by taking two steps: Continue reading the full article

National Aphasia Association Update on the Case of Ruby McDonough

by Ellayne S. Ganzfried on December 8, 2010

Wendy J. Murphy (left) and Ruby McDonough (right)

The NAA would like to share information about this precedent setting case in MA. We are proud to have been involved from the onset and invited to sign on as an “Amicae Curiae” in the amicus brief filed by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) in the McDonough appeal.

An “amicus brief” is a document filed in a case by someone who is not a party to the case but is interested in the outcome. National organizations sometimes file an amicus brief in a case that has the potentially of having an impact on other persons who are similarly situated to one of the parties to the case. It is an opportunity to inform the court about broad policy issues that it might consider in deciding the case. Continue reading the full article

Shifting Focus: Empowering People with Aphasia to Participate in Community Activities

by Denise McCall on December 1, 2010

How do people with aphasia shift their focus and efforts from overcoming aphasia to engaging in activities that promote “living well with aphasia”?  At the Snyder Center for Aphasia Life Enhancement, (SCALE), we believe that focusing on “others” is a good place to start.  Some members of SCALE choose to participate in SCALE’s “Community Outreach” class that encourages them to get involved in the wider community through volunteer efforts. Continue reading the full article