June is National Aphasia Awareness Month.
Imagine not being able to communicate to friends and family. That was the reality for Joan Noble of Elora after she suffered from a stoke in January 2016.
Aphasia is a communication disability caused by damage to the language centres of the brain, usually as the result of a stroke or head injury, explained Zoe Richardson, a speech-language pathologist with the Waterloo-Wellington Regional Aphasia Program (WWRAP).
“It causes problems with talking, understanding what people say to you, can affect people’s ability to write in terms of knowing how to spell words or put sentences together and also reading comprehension,” Richardson explained.
She said aphasia does not affect intelligence, just the ability to communicate. Of the hundreds of people who have a stroke in a given year, she said about a third are affected by aphasia.
Noble found herself unable to speak during the first days after suffering a stroke. She said she did not know about aphasia until she had it.
“It was horrifying, not knowing whether I could go home, not knowing whether I’d be able to function. So many things go through your mind, especially in the first couple days when you can’t communicate,” said Noble.
“I was terrified.”
She said she wanted to write a book after retiring from her corporate job, but it will be a struggle.
“I would fly all over the county, I would give speeches and all sorts of things, and I had a high-power job,” she said.
“I retired at 56 and thought, ‘Okay, here it goes.’ Then I had cancer, so that took five years to get all okay, but during that time I had a stroke,” she said.
Noble explained she has already written the book but has not yet done anything with it.
“I can’t type very well, so that’s kind of gone. I hope it comes back,” she said.
Richardson explained “Language was really important to Joan in a lot of ways, in her profession career, a very competent communicator, and then in her writing, an author.
“It’s had an impact.”
Noble started attending the WWRAP meetings, where she was able to regain her ability to communicate.
The program is an interactive conversation group to allow those with aphasia to gain confidence in communicating again. It meets throughout the region, including Guelph, Mount Forest and Fergus.
Noble said the program has helped her.
“It’s a godsend,” she said.
National Aphasia Awareness Month is a public awareness campaign for the condition.
“We’re really on a mission to educate people on what it is,” said Richardson.
