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This past year, America was shocked when it learned that popular actor Bruce Willis had been diagnosed with aphasia. This came out when the family released a statement on social media that Willis would be stepping back from acting due to the condition. More recently, we’ve learned about an even more specific diagnosis for Willis’s condition—frontotemporal dementia. Again, Americans were shocked.  “Dementia?” they wondered. “Doesn’t that just affect people in their 80s and 90s?” Not really....

Usually, I use this space to share information that’s helpful to our target audience—people who cannot speak for one reason or another (traumatic brain injury, disease, degenerative condition, etc.) But from time to time, I hear from one of our customers directly, and the story is just too good not to share with the world…so that’s what I’m doing today. I was recently introduced to one of our APP2Speak users (Bob) through a customer service inquiry from his best friend, Wayne.As you’ll see in...

In my last blog post, I wrote about a challenging situation faced by many people who cannot speak—family members and caregivers who don’t help as much as they could or should. Today, I want to address the opposite situation: when nonverbal adults DO have the people and tools available to them to help them communicate, but for one reason or another, choose not to take advantage of those opportunities to their fullest.  It may seem strange to think that someone who has lost the ability to speak...

People who cannot speak face significant challenges. First, there’s the inescapable fact of their condition. Once upon a time—prior to the stroke, the brain injury, or the onset of the condition that has robbed them of their ability to speak—they were able to communicate as well as anyone else. Now, that ability to fluently communicate through speech has been taken away, whether temporarily or long-term. Obviously, this change in their condition can lead to deep sadness, even depression. And...

Normally, in this blog, I stick to topics that revolve around the challenges faced by people who have lost or are losing their ability to communicate through speech. As the creator of APP2Speak, a speech app, I usually prefer to “stay in my lane.” However, there are times when I have important information that I feel needs to be shared concerning situations caregivers might face that might not include speech challenges—or that might be present in addition to speech challenges. For example, you...

People may lose their ability to speak for many reasons—a stroke, a traumatic brain injury, a disease such as Parkinson’s or ALS, or age-related cognitive decline (among many others). But while all of these events are tragic, not all of them necessarily lead to the loss of one’s ability to communicate. Someone who has a stroke, for example, may lose their ability to speak or may not, depending on what part of the brain has been affected. There are also many reasons why a person may suffer from...

Dysarthria Definition Dysarthria is a condition that occurs when the muscles you use for speech are weak or you have difficulty controlling them. It often causes slurred or slow speech that can be difficult for others to understand. Other symptoms may include uneven speech volume, uneven speech rhythm, rapid speech that’s difficult to understand, or monotone speech. Causes of Dysarthria There are many possible causes of dysarthria. Common causes include conditions that cause facial paralysis...

In my work as a Speech Language Pathologist and in my role as the creator of the AAC app, APP2Speak, I encounter many tragic stories—people who have had strokes, brain injuries, or radical surgeries that have affected their lives in profound ways. One Tragedy that Leads to Another These stories are tragic enough in the short-term. But then, for many of these people, a second tragedy compounds the first—they lose most or all of their ability to speak and communicate with their loved ones,...

“Is it okay to feel like this?” “I've been doing this for a long time. I love them, but I just need a break.” “What's wrong with me? Am I a terrible person for feeling this way?” If you have a family member or a friend with a disability and they rely on you to help them make it through their daily activities, you may find yourself struggling with toxic inner talk such as this and feeling guilty about it. And if that’s the case, the first thing you need to realize is that you’re not alone. In...

With a growing aging population, there are many more people now living with challenging chronic conditions that may require the services offered in long-term residential care homes. Many of the patients in these facilities struggle with communication disorders (aphasia) due to a variety of causes (sensory loss, dementia, stroke, etc.). When this is the case, caregivers’ attempts to provide person-centered care can be challenging. Mobile communication devices such as smartphones and tablets and...