Friday, June 22, 2018

The music of recovery - Highlight - Tubthumping

I was excited to see this playlist, available to you on Spotify, that includes songs that persons of all ages with many different types of brain injury contributed, as they had some importance to them on their brain injury recovery journey.

https://www.headway.org.uk/news/national-news/2018/your-song-headways-very-own-spotify-playlist/

One of the songs jumped out at me - Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

The contributor, someone with brain injury, said:
“I think that chorus sums up what I had to do over and over throughout the recovery,” said Sean Dolan.

Here are some of the words for you, if you want to know what he is talking about to see if you can relate!

"I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down"

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Our Virtual Choir Experience

I am happy to share with you our video - our members and lab family poured their hearts into this production.

As you may know, this is Aphasia Awareness Month, and we would very much appreciate it if you would share this video to help us spread the word about aphasia and related disorders, stroke and other brain injury or disease, recovery, and life participation.

#ShareYourVoice #AphasiaMonth #TalkAboutAphasia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guU_uRaFbHI


Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Hero and Stroke Survivor!

Much of #StrokeMonth is focused on prevention, recognizing the signs of stroke, etc. While that is critical, it is also important to think about what happens after you survive a stroke. Thanks SO MUCH to Eric Hawton and KRQE Sara Yingling for highlighting the recovery process after stroke!

 http://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/volunteer-firefighter-discusses-long-road-of-recovery-after-two-strokes/1206090316


Monday, June 4, 2018

Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech

More information to share during #AphasiaMonth. Many people with #aphasia may also have #apraxiaofspeech, or persons who have had a stroke or who have progressive disease may just have apraxia of speech. If you want to know more about these terms and diagnoses, watch this wonderful video with information presented by Darlene Williamson. 

Sunday, June 3, 2018

How to start a conversation about suicide

A great follow up to previous posts about depression and suicidal ideation after stroke and other brain injury - this TED talk titled "How to start a conversation about suicide"

https://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_forbes_how_to_start_a_conversation_about_suicide

Saturday, June 2, 2018

What is aphasia?

Most of the folks we meet through our research and outreach had never heard of the word "aphasia" ... until it happened to them or to someone they love. As we settle into #AphasiaMonth, here is some introductory information about #aphasia from two of my favorite advocates, Dr. Roberta Elman and Carol Dow-Richards. 

Friday, June 1, 2018

post-stroke depression

As we transition from #StrokeMonth to #AphasiaMonth, here is a great article that talks about post-stroke depression, with a special emphasis on the unique challenges for treatment of depression in persons with aphasia. 
A quote from the article: “First, post-stroke depression is real. It is not that the survivor is being lazy or unmotivated. Second, PSD needs to be treated, and typically that is with a combination of medication and individual or group therapy. Without treatment, the survivor may face prolonged hospitalizations or rehospitalizations. It can also limit the ultimate level of functional recovery and definitely compromises the survivor’s social integration.”