Helen’s life changed overnight when she suffered a stroke that left her with aphasia. Following her discharge from hospital, Helen, and her sister Lucy, have been attending the Aphasia Café in Halifax and the App Group in Dewsbury, both provided by Aphasia Support. The café is attended by those who are aphasic, and friends and family are also welcome. It is a caring, proactive mix of peer support and structured goal setting. Helen says: “It’s great. It’s getting better every time we go. You have to think about other ways to say something. If you get stuck with the word cup, say ’the thing I put coffee in’.” Lucy adds: “They all help and encourage each other.”
The App Group provide a 12-week programme of one-to-one intervention, using technology to improve communication skills, where people work with speech and language student volunteers, and are encouraged to use synonyms rather than struggling to find specific words. Helen has also worked on writing by hand, something that she both enjoys and finds useful.
To find out how Aphasia Support can support you, get in touch today Make a Referral - Aphasia Support UK.