Aphasia Awareness

By Nurse Diane

A friend of my husband, a very lovely lady who was married to my husband's pastor, had a stroke.  She has recovered from her stroke, however her ability to speak did not return to 100%.  Much like Kirk Douglas who suffered a stroke in 1996.  Although he has some ability to speak, the progress has been long and slow and requires much work with a speech therapist.  Both are able to communicate; however their speech is slow, and sometimes difficult to understand.

A good friend of mine's brother in law suffered a stroke last month that attacked the top of his brain and he totally lost the ability to speak, however that doesn't mean that he lost his intelligence.  They all suffer from a condition known as Aphasia.

Aphasia is an impairment of language ability ranging from having difficulty remembering words to being completely unable to speak, read, or write. It can occur suddenly as with a head injury or stroke, or develop over time with dementia, infection or brain tumor.

Signs and symptoms

People with aphasia may experience any of the following behaviors

• Inability to comprehend language
• Inability to pronounce, not due to muscle paralysis or weakness
• Inability to speak spontaneously
• Inability to form words
• Inability to name objects
• Poor enunciation
• Inability to repeat a phrase
• Persistent repetition of phrases
• Uncompleted sentences
• Inability to read
• Inability to write
• Limited verbal output
• Difficulty in naming

Treatment

Treatment is according to the cause of aphasia, but the main course of treatment involves working with a speech therapist.

June is National Aphasia Awareness Month.  For more information see: http://www.aphasia.org/ 

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Recognizing Special Education Day 12/2/12

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By Diane Forrest

A friend of mine's daughter recently found out she was pregnant.  The whole family was elated, she has two small boys, and is in her twenties.  Everything was wonderful until she received a call from her doctor.  The results showed that she had a 1 in 350 chance of having a child born with down's syndrome.  The family was crushed.  There was no history of Down's syndrome on either side of the families, and the mother was having a difficult time grasping this concept.

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I tried to calm her, explaining that those odds were too high to be concerned about, and the results were inconclusive until an ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis.  It is every parent's desire to have a healthy baby, but sometimes that is not the case, so I began to help her to prepare for the alternative.  As I began thinking about the possibility of a baby born with Down's Syndrome, I thought about all the great changes that have been made in that area.

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Children born with Down's syndrome are now not being separated in schools or activities, but are being included in schools and provided special education training needs. On December 2, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Handicap Children's Act that would open doors for all Children to gain access to education.

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Today marks the 8th anniversary of Special Education Day.  We take the day to honor progress and celebrate students with disabilities--and their parents, teachers and schools. And, we dialogue and plan for the future for all students in our schools and for appropriate reforms.  To learn how you can help to celebrate this day, or ways to help children with special education needs in your community, visit this site:  http://www.specialeducationday.com/

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

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By Terry Orr

Held each October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a national campaign that raises awareness about disability employment issues and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities. This year's theme is "A Strong Workforce is an Inclusive Workforce: What Can YOU Do?"

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During nearly five plus decades of working, I have worked with many people disabilities and to the person – they all excelled in the workplace. 

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The AbilityOne Program is the largest single source of employment for people who are blind or have significant disabilities in the United States, providing employment opportunities to more than 50,000 people. More than 600 participating, community-based nonprofit agencies (NPAs) train and employ these individuals with disabilities nationwide. But there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who are blind or have other significant disabilities that are still waiting for their chance to work. That’s why building awareness of the Program during NDEAM and throughout the year is so crucial to its success.

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References and Links:

http://www.dol.gov/odep/

http://www.consultspringboard.com/2012/ndeam-what-can-you-do/

http://www.nablement.com/2012/08/national-disability-employment-awareness-month-moving-beyond-the-tagline/

http://blog.capabilitiesinc.biz/?p=863

http://www.abilityone.gov/media_room/ndeam.html