Aphasia & the Golden Rules of Communication

Some individuals regain their ability to speak after rehabilitation but admit, "I would rather have a limb missing than to live with aphasia. People can see that you are challenged by a missing arm. People cannot see what you are going through with aphasia.

 

Aphasia is invisible but it's not imaginary. Aphasia can show its ugly face in the middle of a sentence. A person can behaving a conversation but suddenly he/she doesn't understand all the words or cannot say the next word that he/she was planning to say. There are moments when a person living with aphasia knows exactly what he/she wants to say, but the words get "lost" or won't come out the way that he/she intended. People living with aphasia "lose" words or say the wrong ones. Sometimes his/her mind goes completely blank and all he/she cando is pause, look at the listener, hope that he/she will wait, and try again.

 

Aphasia is frustrating.

Aphasia is exhausting.

Aphasia is embarrassing.

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Speech Therapists often provided augmentative and alternative communication devices that made it possible for a person living with aphasia to communicate simple needs. However, it is quite another thing for a person living with aphasia to tell a joke or story. That is the difficult part; people living with aphasia find it almost impossible to tell their stories.

 

If you know someone who is living with aphasia, be patient. Extra time makes a huge difference. When you wait, the extra time encourages the person living with aphasia to keep trying. It might take 4 to 9 seconds (count one-one-thougsand, two-one-thousand...) for the person living with aphasia to hear what you say, process what you said, formulate a respons, and say the words. Nine seconds seems like a long time to wait, but the extra time can make the difference between communicating or not. If you go too fast, you erase the person who is living with aphasia. If you go too fast, you tell him/her, "You don't matter enough to wait for you." If you wait, your kindness will mean more than you will ever know.

 

People living with aphasia need the ability to accept themselves as they are. When you accept him/her by waiting, you communicate, "It's okay. Keep trying. Never, never give up."

 

If you are living with aphasia, you are living with a hidden disability. There are more people learning what hidden disabilities are and who are trained to help you. If you plan to travel, you need to know about the Sunflower Hidden Disability Network. There are airports all over the world trained to be more patient, kind and understanding. The people at thoses airports are trained to use the golden rules of communication to make your travel possible by noticing, asking, waiting, and listening.