IT'S JUNE!

June is Aphasia Awareness Month!!
14 sleeps before 'Aphasia, the movie' comes to Halifax. Get your tickets, now!

I started a letter to the editor in our local paper. 792 words. Hmmm, the instructions, which I read AFTER I wrote the letter of 792 words, says "Letters should be no more than 200 words...". :(

Those 592 words were good stuff! What to do! Goddess Aphasiadite presents the epic 'Letter to the Editor'!

I have aphasia and apraxia. I’m one of the approximately 450 Nova Scotians who acquired aphasia in 2008. I’m not alone. EACH year, approximately 450 Nova Scotians will acquired aphasia and belong to our aphasic community!

So, what IS aphasia? Aphasia is an acquired language disorder caused by brain injury. About 30% stroke survivors have aphasia. I had a stroke three years ago in October, just before my 50th birthday. For my early birthday present, the Universe slapped me with a ‘clot’ up the side of my head! THAT clot lodged in my middle cerebral artery in my left cerebral hemisphere (brain) blocking the pathway to my language centre. Neurons in my language centre gasped for oxygen: some died and some were injured.

BUT, I was lucky! My friend, Anne, who was there when I had my stroke was quick to call ‘911’. And, the paramedics were fast to arrive at the cottage in East Jeddore and deliver me to Dartmouth General where I received a ‘clot buster’ drug (‘Draino’, as Anne referred to it). I probably would have MORE problems and challenges IF I had not been taken to the hospital within the 4 hour time frame to get the drug to dissolve the clot in my artery.

What does my language disorder look like? I’ll discuss aphasia and leave out apraxia for now…after all June is Aphasia Awareness Month! Language is a communication tool comprised by speech, reading and writing. What would you do if you didn’t have those tools and skills? I started there just after my stroke. AND, what if you couldn’t understand others who do use those communication tools. I started there just after my stroke.

When Anne realized something was wrong with me, she asked me what was wrong, but I didn’t understand what she was saying. I knew she was upset by her tone and body language, when I tried to tell her that everything was okay, I couldn’t speak. I tried…no sound. I tried again, then pushed air through my vocal chords and successfully said ‘uh’. So, I decided to stand up, showing that I was okay! OOPS! From there, I dropped to the floor…seems my right side was paralyzed!

NOW, my right side works, not perfectly but you wouldn’t know that by sight. And, I have aphasia. I work hard every day to better my speech, my reading and my writing. Now, Anne says, sarcastically, “Remember, when she couldn’t speak!” :)

Some aphasics are challenged only by speech, some others are challenged with speech, reading and writing. And others are challenged with understanding what YOU said, the language that you use, and how fast you speak. My ears hear, but my auditory cortex of my brain can’t make sense of the noises that you speak! So, don’t speak louder, it won’t matter. Slow down! Language is a very slow dance. Dance with me.

I’m a volunteer with the NEW Nova Scotia Aphasia Association (NSAA). On June 15, 2011, the NSAA will present ‘Aphasia, the movie’ at Empire Theatres Park Lane, 5657 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax at 7:00pm. To get information about the Aphasia Association and the movie, email nsaa@bellaliant.net or call (902) 445-4960 or visit our Facebook page (Nova Scotia Aphasia Association).

For information on Carl and the trailer for ‘Aphasia, the movie’, see:
Aphasia, the movie