Lucille’s anomic aphasia and writing improved during her 6-week intensive aphasia therapy. Ken says laughter is important when dealing with aphasia.
Her words are starting to come back together. She’s putting more and more words together, where before there was just one word, or maybe this or that. Now she’s starting to use the words she needs to express herself, and what she needs and what she wants.
I’ve threatened a couple of times to get the duct tape out, because she’s really starting to talk a lot. Which is, you know, what you want. You got to keep it on the light side. It’s serious, but you’ve got to have your time to laugh. Laughter is good therapy too.
Why did you decide to get intensive aphasia therapy?
Our therapist back up in New York suggested it. She thought Lucille would do well with it, and she has done really well down here. They’ve really done a lot with it, and she’s really improved a lot with her writing. It’s more intensive when you’re with a therapist all day long.
What is it that Lucille wanted to get out of therapy?
She wanted to be able to read, and to understand, which she’s starting to do, because she loves to read books. Now we’re doing books that read for her, and she is enjoying them. She listens to books, in bed and in the car. She’ll put the book on and she’ll listen. She understands movies and TV programs that she likes. She loves to read, and what she wants is to get back into reading.