Aphasia Support Group

she should be getting physical, speech, and occupational therapy.

That was my course. Physical, Speech and Occupational Therapy. Also, I'm a part-time voiceover person so talking a lot really helped. And even if it didn't clinically help, it made me feel better. Read my profile.

Hi, the other 2 comments are absolutely correct, she needs all the therapy she can get, physio, speech, occupational. It does take time, so everyone needs to be very patient. The speech therapists wanted something like a story board, where you point to how you are feeling, are you hungry, etc. etc., it didn't work very well for Ralph. My Ralph has aphasia and apraxia, his stroke was very bad, see our profile. Was the stroke on the left side? and what kind of stroke? The medical profession does not always have all the answers and they can be wrong. It has been 2 years for us now, and still working on it. Take care, Joanne

if speech therapy is an option, a speech therapist could give you specific suggestions on how to help after doing an evaluation. without knowing her strengths and areas of weakness in terms of communicating, its hard to make anything other than broad suggestions.

in a broad sense, being supportive of course is always helpful, being patient and giving her time to process what youve said as well as time to express herself through all methods (speech, facial expressions, body language, writing, drawing, gestures) is a good general rule of thumb. giving her opportunities to try to express herself (rather than letting someone else do her talking for her all the time) is also something to keep in mind. limiting distractions (tv, radio, ambient noise) during conversation is also a good thing to remember. depending on the type of speech problem she has, she may do better in person... or she may do better on the phone... you may want to try each and try to communicate with her through whichever mode seems better for her.

the reason i started with "if speech therapy is an option" is because it may be an insurance issue that blocks her access to speech therapy. if she is 58 she wouldnt likely qualify for medicare... so it depends on what her private insurance covers, or what she & her family can afford to pay out of pocket. also, it can depend on what kind of facility she is in... if she is in a "skilled nursing facility" therapy would likely be more readily available than if she is in a "rest home." best of luck. sounds like she is lucky to have such concerned & supportive friends!