Living with aphasia

I had my stroke in 2010 which ended many things in life including work. The stroke affected my right hand and right foot and speech. Typing with both hands and r/c helicopters helped with fine motor motions and exercise helped with lifting simple things. In physical therapy if you can walk a block more than…

My AVM

On March 28th, 2004, I had an AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation) on the left side of my brain. This stroke subsequently left my right side paralyzed. This is a story of my journey, starting from when I first felt the symptoms through my assiduous efforts to overcome the physical constraints that the AVM imposed on me.…

Finding Meaning Again

There are endless reasons why being a speech-language pathologist is a rewarding career. In fact, there are far too many to name. But perhaps the biggest reward is when you are able to give a person, regardless of their age or diagnosis, a “voice.” Last fall, while supervising our Aphasia Group at our local university,…

Working with stroke survivors

In 2005, I found myself working with several stroke survivors as a Speech Language Pathologist. One stroke survivor in particular would frequently ask the questions “Am I the only one with these problems?”, “why did this happen?”, and “how did this happen?”. After providing much education and counseling, I realized the best way to get…