ORLANDO, FL (The Aphasia House, University of Central Florida, Thursday, February 25, 2016). I took part during the last day of the 6-week intensive aphasia program at the Aphasia House in Orlando. There were 5 stroke survivors with their family and friends, about a dozen master students plus Janet Whiteside, PhD, CCC-SLP. Janet is the director of the program and faculty at the College of Health & Public Affairs at the University of Central Florida.
They had their last classes and then a BBQ presented by the staff. The father of one of the students ran the chicken BBQ! I spoke at the beginning of the day talking about feedback, deficits, awareness, the redundancy of the brain and neural plasticity. William James was the first one to use the word “plasticity” in his book, The Principles of Psychology published in 1890. I was then able to attend each individual class and talk about our experiences. All the participants were getting better with their spoken & written language with one attendee who had have his stroke just 3 months before. It was a great day!
