March, 2011

Out of the Fog

by Alan Hewitt on March 30, 2011

Alan Hewitt, Sonia Parsons and Sharon Smith at the South East London Aphasia Hub

I had a brain haemorrhage nineteen years ago. It was 2½ years before I began to talk again. And it was four years before I understood I had aphasia. I was in a kind of ‘fog’. One day I read an article in a newspaper about loss of language after stroke. And I thought to myself ‘this is what I have!’. That’s when I was able to put a name to the place I found myself in.

I had speech and language therapy which was useful – to a point. On the surface the results were looking good – I was ticking all the boxes on the worksheet … but my real life was disintegrating. I went back to work with a charity but I had no support. The government Disability Adviser had not heard of aphasia – it was not recognised as a disability. My social network collapsed. I didn’t know where to put myself. I needed to be with people who understood, who had aphasia. I started to reach out to people who had the same kind of issues as I did. Continue reading the full article

Quiet Truth

by Audrey Holland on March 23, 2011

It is difficult to be an experienced Speech-Language Pathologist living in Tucson, where we get speculative reports on the changing condition of our beloved and cruelly injured Gabrielle Giffords. Flurries of words, all sounding positive about recovery, but rightfully not predicting the truly unpredictable, leave me feeling snowed under. I long to hear the simple truth of “we don’t know”, nuanced with all the hope, empathy, and optimism that should accompany them. Continue reading the full article

Accommodating the Communication Disability Associated with Aphasia in the Courtroom

by Marjorie Nicholas on March 16, 2011

Many people in the aphasia community have heard about the case of a Massachusetts woman with aphasia who had to fight a battle to testify in a court case filed against a certified nursing assistant she had accused of assaulting her in her living facility. An earlier posting related to this case can be found at: “National Aphasia Association Update on the Case of Ruby McDonough”.

As stated in the earlier post: “The judge essentially ruled that because the basis for the earlier decision on competency had failed to recognize Ruby’s capacity to testify with accommodations, she had a right to take the stand at trial and utilize all reasonable accommodations to facilitate her communications as a witness against her assailant.”

Last week on March 10th the trial began and concluded the following day. Ms. McDonough was able to testify in the courtroom and pointed out the defendant as the man who had assaulted her. She was asked a number of questions by the attorneys from both sides. The trial was a bench trial which means that the judge and not a jury determined the outcome of the case. After listening to all of the cross-examination of witnesses and the arguments of both sides, the judge found the defendant not guilty.

I was at the trial and in this posting I would like to address some of the issues I see as important to accommodating those with aphasia in a courtroom. I was asked by Marian Ryan to assist in the case by conducting an evaluation of Ms. McDonough and I was also called as a witness to testify about the disability of aphasia itself. Continue reading the full article

Patience and Persistance

by Ognjen Todic on March 2, 2011

Sun Rising Over the Dock

Sean M. Maloney is executive vice president of Intel Corporation, general manager of the Sales and Marketing Group, and chief sales and marketing officer. He has been with Intel since 1982. On March 1, 2010 it was announced that Maloney had suffered a stroke in his home.

Since then, Sean has resumed carrying out his full business responsibilities at Intel.

Sean has been a passionate rower for a number of years; in the video below he tells his story about rowing and compares it to recovery from his stroke. Continue reading the full article