We are opening up this “front page” of The Aphasia Hope Foundation’s website to feature your experiences as a Survivor, Caregiver or Therapist; experiences that have given you Hope, that you could share with others. We would love to hear from you regarding different therapies, what worked, what didn’t work, exercises that can be done at home, etc. Most of all this is a place for you to share with each other and give hope and encouragement to others that find themselves in similar situations due to stroke, TBI, or illness (such as PPA). Please email your submissions to sandycaudell@aphasiahope.org .

For an article on the experience of one caregiver after 18 years, Click on EXPERIENCE

Here is a highlight of a recent question for our Professional for the Month and the Pro’s reply:

Question from “aphasiawife” Regarding “Window of Recovery:
Is there a window of recovery from anomic aphasia after a stroke? Can any more progress be made through therapy though the stroke happened 10 years ago? Thanks.

Our Professional of the Month answers:

Absolutely!!!! There has been so much research in the last 5-10 years focusing on what we now know about about brain and it’s plasticity! It’s exciting information for individuals who were told that they would make all of the progress that they ever would make in the first 6 months or year after their stroke/insult. It’s just not true. The brain can continue to change and new pathways can be forged… it does take work, but if you do it right, the work will be stimulating, salient and fun!

First of all, check out the work that is out there written by people that have gone through this…there are several wonderful books from My Stroke of Insight (Jill Bolte Taylor), The Miracle Mind (Sonya’s Story), Healing Into Possibility (Allison Shapiro), etc. There are so many wonderful testimonials for individuals to realize they are not alone and that there is much to be done.

Secondly, understand the main tenants of recovery and new pathways are: 1) Opportunities: an individual needs lots of opportunities to communicate; fun, social, educational, vocational… the more opportunities, the more practice! 2) Challenge: the brain changes, and does what we teach it to do… the more we do for the person with aphasia, the ”easier” it may seem, but it actually denies the individual that communicative pressure they need. Instead of filling in, teach those around you to ”cue” the person… give them direction vs. the answer. 3) Support: This can be found with groups that have others that have aphasia,… a local university may have a program, or graduate interns that are looking for clinical experience, … look for aphasia groups and aphasia centers in your area for purposeful, engaging and satisfying experiences.

Let me know if I can help you further.

Maura

Many people, Survivors, Caregivers, Students, etc. have been posting questions and answers in our forums/message boards section. See if someone is having the same issue you are or offer your advice to help someone else out! Go to AHF Forums!

May is almost over and time is running out to ask your members of Congress to raise stroke awareness in recognition of National Stroke Awareness Month. We’ve made it easy for you to take action. When people know about stroke and its risk factors, stroke can be prevented and lives can be saved. You can help by asking your members of Congress to make sure their constituents know about stroke, its risk factors and warning signs.

Ask Congress to Show Their Support for the Stroke Community.

Ask Congress to Speak Out About Stroke in May.

These easy steps can make a big difference. Ask your members of Congress to join you in raising awareness about stroke in May.

Counseling Degree.com provides academic and career guidance to prospective students in a simple and meaningful way. Our website contains information about degree programs, specialty areas of study, job searching, and common questions and answers. No matter what level of education you are seeking, our site will help you find the right program, the right school, and the right information to kick start your career.

Our site also links visitors directly to accredited degree programs. With over 80 accredited programs listed, you can begin your studies confident that you’re enrolled in a school with top instructors trained to help you reach your academic and career goals.

STEPHANIE’S TIPS FOR CAREGIVERS:
Stepping Back

A stroke has a way of magnifying personality traits in the caregiver as well as the survivor. My need for control was pumped up, possibly because our lives felt like they were spinning out of control. I looked for ways to exercise
control. One way was learning everything I could about stroke. Another was keeping lists and notes on everything the doctors, nurses and therapists said and did.

As Paul recovered, I couldn’t stop myself from needing more control, particularly over little details. If those details didn’t go as I had planned, if I wasn’t in control, I would get stressed out.

I usually drive because I am a control freak. Of course, I explain that if I drive, “Paul is more rested,” and so more able to fully engage with whomever or where-ever we’re going. The loss of control when the traffic slows down (which happens all the time where we live), makes me frustrated and angry, so maybe I should let Paul drive more.

Recently, Paul’s brother spent a week with us for the first time in many years. I wanted to be sure that Paul and his brother had time alone, without a control freak micro- managing the scene, so I planned to work most of the week. On Wednesday, Paul drove his brother to his Rotary Club without me. They spent the day together and had a great time.

I have met many caregivers who were or became control freaks, perhaps more compulsive than me. They would do everything for their survivor, make all the decisions, try to be in complete control. They wouldn’t let the survivor learn to get a snack for himself, or help with the household chores,
because the survivor was too slow or “couldn’t do it right.” They were totally stressed by all the work, with no end in sight.

I have learned that the more independent I helped Paul become, the more time and independence I gained for myself. I know that loosening control and stepping back helped Paul to be more self-sufficient and self-assured, and helped me find perspective. And last week proved this in a very positive way.

For more tips for caregivers, please visit:

http://www.strokesurvivor.com/articles_and_tips.html.

*** Looking for even more inspiration & solutions for spouses and families? Read, “Conquering
Aphasia & Stroke for Caregivers,” the special E-book by Stephanie Mensh. Details and to order your
copy, anytime, anywhere: http://tinyurl.com/CaregiverE-Book

Life after Stroke: the Conversation Partner Scheme

By Kimberly Bond
For people suffering after a stroke, life can be very difficult. But a scheme that helps both Aphasia patients and professionals understand the route to recovery is starting to become a success.

The Conversation Partner scheme, which was started in the UK by the Communication Disability network ‘Connect’ in 2006, uses trained volunteers to support Aphasia sufferers in their own home.

Aphasia is a communication disorder often caused by Stroke –affecting one in three stroke survivors. It affects the sufferer’s ability to speak, read and write, sometimes leaving them with little or no speech at all.
Dr Simon Horton is a lecturer in the Faculty of Health at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and is one of the chief organisers of the scheme. The University was the first site to train their students in the scheme, which is now a national network of more than 20 in the UK and Ireland.

The programme sees all first year Speech and Language therapy students at the University go into the homes of Aphasia sufferers to provide them with stimulating conversation once a week for six months.

Dr Horton said: “The scheme is based on evidence that people suffering from Stroke and Aphasia are vulnerable to isolation- as they are typically elderly and often have physical disabilities. This means they are unable to get out and access the stroke treatments and clubs available in the community, which are normally run by the Stroke Association.”

Read full article .

Raise Stroke Awareness in Your Community

Genentech, in collaboration with National Stroke Association and American College of Emergency Physicians, has developed a variety of tools and resources to help you build a successful stroke awareness campaign in your community. And you can easily customize many of these materials by adding your institution’s logo (National Stroke Association materials are not customizable). Visit StrokeAwareness.com today for these new resources:

Build a community outreach program:

Stroke Awareness Planning Guide
F.A.S.T. Materials (poster, magnet)
Risk Assessment Scorecard (National Stroke Association)
Community Presentation on Stroke (National Stroke Association)
Explaining Stroke brochure (National Stroke Association)
Promote the campaign through mass media:

Journal Ad
Billboard
Radio Public Service Announcement
Stroke Awareness Campaign Online Banners
Amplify your message through public relations:

PR Toolkit Guide
News Release Templates
Stroke 101 Fact Sheet (National Stroke Association)
Royalty-Free Image Library
Raise awareness through social media:

Social media best practices
Suggested awareness materials and links for use on Twitter and Facebook
Download or order these resources at

An article By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer for MedPage Today
Published: May 16, 2013
Reviewed by F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE; Instructor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

Depression appears to be a risk factor for stroke among middle-age women, even after accounting for other variables, an Australian study showed.

Among women in their late 40s and early 50s who were followed for up to 12 years, meeting criteria for depression was associated with more than double the likelihood of having a stroke (OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.78-3.27), according to Caroline Jackson, PhD, and Gita Mishra, PhD, of the University of Queensland in Australia.

The relationship was partly explained by age, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and physiological factors, but remained statistically significant after adjustment for those variables (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.37- 2.74), they reported online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“Our findings contribute to the currently limited evidence on potential age differences in the association between depression and stroke, and suggest that the effect of depression may be even stronger in younger women,” they wrote.

“Further research investigating age differences within the same cohort is needed, since the identification of such differences will have important implications for policy and practice,” they continued. “In particular, this will inform the development of effective targeted prevention and intervention approaches.”

Depression has been associated with a greater stroke risk in prior studies, but there is some evidence pointing to differences by age.

To explore the issue in middle-age women, the researchers turned to the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. The analysis included 10,547 stroke-free women ages 47 to 52 who were surveyed every 3 years from 1998 to 2010.

At each survey, depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale shortened version and an inquiry about whether the women were using antidepressants. The researchers classified women as having depression if they reported taking an antidepressant in the previous 4 weeks or they scored 10 or higher on the depression scale.

At each time point, roughly one-quarter of the women had depression. During follow-up, 177 had a first stroke.

The association between depression and stroke remained significant after adjustment for several factors, including age, socioeconomic status, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, hysterectomy/oophorectomy, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and body mass index, and in sensitivity analyses using different definitions of depression.

Read More

Teach your social network about #stroke with National Stroke Association’s awareness posts and tweets!

For an example of their tweets and posts, click on Posts and click on Stroke Awareness Social Media posts.

Like the individuals who experience them, no two strokes are exactly the same. Learn more about the common physical, communication, emotional and behavioral effects that stroke can have on a survivor and find great tips for improving and adapting to make the most of your recovery.

NATIONAL APHASIA AWARENESS MONTH
JUNE 2013
June is around the corner, and you know what that means – National Aphasia Awareness Month! This year’s theme for National Aphasia Awareness Month is “A Million Thanks for Helping to Spread the Word!” This theme was created with this year’s Host Group, the Stroke Comeback Center of Vienna, VA. Thank you to the folks at Stroke Comeback for helping us come up with such a great and meaningful theme! We are also excited to be adding an International partner to our celebration! Thanks to March of Dimes Canada and the York-Durham Aphasia Centre for helping to spread aphasia awareness in Canada.

Awareness Month Packets
As a big “thanks” to all of you who plan on spreading the word about aphasia even more than you usually do during the month of June, we are again sending out our famous Awareness Month Packets, which will include:
Awareness Month Posters with the image above and information about aphasia
Brochures about aphasia
Ideas on how you can celebrate National Aphasia Awareness Month
So much more!

If you are interested in receiving a packet, please send an email with your name and complete mailing address to naa@aphasia.org.

For more ideas in how you can make this June a more meaningful Aphasia Awareness Month, click on National Aphasia Association.

Spread stroke awareness during May, National Stroke Awareness Month, by hosting a community presentation. A community presentation can help spread crucial information about stroke warning signs and symptoms, risk factors and what to do when someone has a stroke. Follow this easy step-by-step guide to help ensure your success.

Contact National Stroke Association for more information on Community Presentations 101.