Aphasia ( /əˈfeɪʒə/ or /əˈfeɪziə/, from ancient Greek ἀφασία (ἄφατος, ἀ- + φημί), "speechlessness") is an impairment of language ability. This class of language disorder ranges from having difficulty remembering words to being completely unable to speak, read, or write.
See the full article Aphasia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
See the full article Aphasia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
InteRACT - Intensive Residential Aphasia Communication Therapy
InteRACT is an intensive summer speech and language therapy program for adults with aphasia.InteRACT is based on the philosophy that individuals with aphasia should be afforded opportunities to maximize their communication potential with the goal of enhanced life participation.
InteRACT is an intensive month long summer residential program providing over 100 hours of speech and language therapy, for adults with aphasia. The program also provides group physiotherapy, Recreation Therapy and training for communication partners. InteRACT, which was launched in 2002 is unique in Canada. It has participants each year from across North America and also has had participants from Europe and Japan. The program is run through the Dalhousie University School of Human Communication Disorders, Halifax, Canada.
The program dates for 2012 are:
Summer Session: June 27 - July 27
Enrollment is limited to 6-8 participants per session. Eligible candidates are admitted until spaces are filled. Late applicants will be placed on a "wait list"
Contact Info:
Phone: 1 (902) 494-5158
Email: interact@dal.ca
Website: http://www.AphasiaAction.com
Dalhousie University Speech Program Attracts Brain Injury Patients from Around Globe
by The Chronicle Herald NewsDean -->> Like a game of Scrabble, lettered tiles are placed on the table. Make the word, she’s urged. And Joyce Dean unscrambles: Y-O-U.
Linda -->> “What does it say?” asks Linda Wozniak, intently watching the 70-year-old woman sitting beside her.
Dean -->> And Dean tries. The sounds come haltingly, scrambled, just like those letters were.
Linda -->> “Watch my smile,” says Wozniak, enunciating the word, slowly, carefully.
Dean -->> “You,” Dean repeats, faster.
Linda -->> Unmistakeable. “You.” And then it’s on to four-letter words.
Dean -->> K-I-S-S, Dean unscrambles quickly. “Kiss,” she says, without hesitation. And sitting behind her, husband David beams ...
See the full article Dalhousie University Speech Program Attracts Brain Injury Patients from Around Globe.
How Dal's InterACT Helps People with Aphasia
InterACT director Linda Wozniak explains how the therapy works (audio).
From Arizona to Halifax for Treatment
Marty Booher and her husband Jerry sing the praises of a treatment facility at Dalhousie
InteRACT - Louder than Words
Dalhousie Aphasia Clinic
Supporting and enhancing communication abilities and quality of life for adults with aphasia since 1987The Dalhousie Aphasia Clinic is run through the School of Human Communication Disorders. The Clinic offers a variety of programs for adults with aphasia.
InteRACT - an intensive month long summer residential program providing over 100 hours of speech and language therapy.
Aphasia Book Club - a weekly session highlighting reading and verbal skills in a small group.
An assessment process determines whether a program is "right" for an individual. To schedule an appointment or to find out more about our programs - please contact us!
Dalhousie Aphasia Clinic
School of Human Communication Disorders
1256 Barrington Street, 6th Floor
Halifax, NS B3J 1Y6
902-494-5158
interact@dal.ca
Healing Journey Leads to Nova Scotia
Article written by Marty Booher, The Chronicle HeraldNovember 24, 2011
On Jan. 8, 2011, a gunman, at close range, aimed his weapon at Gabrielle Giffords’ head and pulled the trigger. In that instant, the U.S. Congresswoman from Arizona was launched on a journey parallel to the one my husband began 10 months earlier. It’s a journey that many wounded soldiers, accident survivors and stroke survivors share — not only to regain use of the paralyzed right side of the body, but to regain language abilities.
My husband’s journey started in Arizona, too, but did not begin in such a public or dramatic manner. As with thousands of other people, a large stroke left him with disabilities similar to Giffords’. For the 1.1 million people in North America living with aphasia (an impairment of language abilities, including speaking, reading and writing), the struggle to regain those abilities is long and difficult — and almost always without access to the intensive therapy Giffords has received.
Unlike Giffords’ journey that took her to Texas for intensive therapy, our journey led us to InteRACT, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Research indicates the best treatment for aphasia is intensive therapy and, although Scottsdale, Arizona, has some of the best medical care in the world, intensive therapy was not available anywhere west of Chicago. From my research and discussions with our rehabilitation doctor, I was convinced intensive therapy provided the best chance for recovery, despite the sacrifices we might have to make. After researching programs in Chicago, Michigan and Halifax, I chose the program in Chicago for 2010. The results were very promising; and in 2011, we decided to try another program to expand my husband’s skills.
Nova Scotia seems like an unlikely place for a person from Arizona to look for treatment, but based on a recommendation, we travelled to Halifax for the InteRACT program at Dalhousie University in July. The progress made during the program was huge; our lives have been changed in a dramatic way because of InteRACT. It was the best possible treatment for my husband’s aphasia.
The quality and intensity of the InteRACT program helped my husband make a huge leap forward in his recovery. He is now able to read simple sentences aloud and read novels for pleasure, and has begun to use words to convey ideas. I am confident he will recover much of what he lost with the stroke.
Dalhousie has one of the best-kept secrets on the continent for people living with aphasia. The program structure, the organization and the emphasis on "getting back to life" all provide supports for positive outcomes.
On our journey, we’ve also learned therapy is a personal service and results are different with each therapist. There are only a few world-class therapists and Halifax is privileged to have several of them.
There is something different about the Canadian speech therapists we encountered. Perhaps the universities in Canada do a better job of preparing them, but we felt that the therapists and interns involved in the program were superior to others we’ve encountered. Intensive aphasia therapy at InteRACT was an investment in our future and it is paying big dividends. I can’t think of a better way to invest in our lives right now.
We’ve met some of the world’s best people through this journey and I’m grateful that we live in a time when resources like InteRACT are available. I wonder, though, how many Canadians with aphasia are unaware of this program which has seen people come from across the globe. We travelled more than 3,000 miles and had to use our passports to get to the program that met our needs.
We will be back in July 2012.
Who knows? Perhaps Giffords’ journey will intersect with our journey in Halifax.
Marty Booher lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
See the orignal article Healing Journey Leads to N.S. from Dalhousie University.
Inside Aphaisa - Comments & YouTube Parts 1, 2, and 3.
I have recently gotten slightly better. I will suggest practising tongue twisters to you, that helped me all lot. I came out to my family that I have trouble communicating with other people, they helped me all lot. You should tell yours too and just start conversation. I cannot explain to you how helpful this was to me. Even if you have a pet just keep speaking to it, I still forget words but I have better communication skills to help me disguise it or work around it. I hope this helped. -- MrNinjaSpartan
I am 17 and have this. It is extremely distressing. I think this program makes one mistake that this disorder mostly the elderly have it, anybody at any age can get it. -- sena929
Whoever thinks that the effects of aphasia is humorous is an extremely disturbed human being... if whoever it is is even considered human. -- lucyba
Inside Aphaisa : Part 1 of 3
Inside Aphaisa : Part 2 of 3
Inside Aphaisa : Part 3 of 3
Two Other Examples of Aphasia
Broca's Aphasia
If the patient was given a written text to describe, I would still expect the patient to struggle with producing language. Of course, this depends on the extent of the lesion.
In cognitive neuropsychology literature, there is a transcript depicting a patient trying to describe the follow picture: a mother is washing dishes while in the background, two children use a stool to steal something out of a jar.
I think this may be that patient (if not, then the content of the video suggests a similar task, if not the same one, may have been given to others with Brocas aphasia).
-- BladesOfMunch
See also YouTube: Broca's aphasia - Sarah Scott, SSTattler January 28/2012.
Wernicke's Aphasia
(SSTattler: By Students -- the first introduction is a bit weird but students are students!)
Two different Broadcasters on TV have suddenly have Wernicke's Aphasia.
In YouTube at 3:12 WISC TV Studio (by unknown name)
In YouTube at 3:45 CBS-2 by Serene Branson
Wernicke's aphasia affects the comprehension of language, not just speech. She can understand the actual words being spoken to her, but not the meaning behind them. Broca patients will say the right words, but they won't have any sentence structure around the words, and generally slowly with bad rhythm. Wernicke's patients usually speak with normal structure, rhythm and tone, but use made-up or wrong words.
The lady, at 4:00, I think she is having trouble comprehending the meaning of the questions, especially after around 5:00... she's just repeating the words instead of responding to them. Eventually it seems she finds some sort of meaning in them, but it's not clear or immediate.
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