Aphasia Friendly: Words are More Like Cats than Dogs
by Audrey Holland on August 24, 2010
Bayard Baylis (By , to his friends) wrote a wonderful essay on word-finding problems for people with aphasia. By’s aphasia is mild, and it is clear from his writing that he has maintained his ability to read and write. It is also very clear that he understands what aphasia is like when it comes to struggling with words. I HIGHLY recommend this article (republished on the Aphasia Corner Blog) for people whose aphasias are similar to By’s, for he has marvelous insights for them. But these insights can also be useful to people who have more severe aphasia, and who probably have difficulty reading and writing. With By’s permission, I have tried in what follows to give his main points in an “Aphasia Friendly” way, for those can’t read very well.
WORDS ARE MORE LIKE CATS THAN DOGS
by BAYARD BAYLIS
BEFORE APHASIA, words were like DOGS
AFTER APHASIA, words are like CATS
What does By Baylis MEAN???
DOGS |
CATS |
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|
WHAT ABOUT WORDS?
| THEN | NOW | |
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| Words used to be LIKE DOGS!!! | Words are now LIKE CATS!!!! |
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WHAT CAN YOU DO??
DOG TRICKS
Getting some “DOG WORDS” back

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Some ways to practice words
Say words/scripts aloud
Read aloud at your level
Read silently at your level–watch it grow
Do word and thinking games (your choice)
USE the words and sentences to others!!
Tell your story!
CAT TRICKS
Making friends with your Cat-words

CATS respond to:
|
WORDS respond to:
|

CAT WORDS KNOW WHEN YOU TRY TOO HARD!!
THEY MAKE YOU PAY!!
TAKE HOME MESSAGE:
APHASIA CHANGES WORDS FROM DOGS TO CATS

PART OF OVERCOMING IS :
RE-TRAINING THE DOGS!!
WELCOME THE CATS!!

If you would like to print this article we recommend you download the PDF version here.
Aphasia logo image courtesy of National Aphasia Association.
Trackbacks
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Words Are More Like Cats Than Dogs « Aphasia Corner Blog on August 24th, 2010 @ 9:41 pm
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Gazing into the Abyss – a Deux | By's aphasia Blog on July 9th, 2011 @ 4:13 pm
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Gazing into the Abyss – a Deux « By's epilepsy Blog on October 15th, 2011 @ 9:38 pm







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