ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (World Stroke Day, Tuesday, Oct 29, 2019)
This article was published by the AHA Support Network website (supportnetwork.heart.org) and discussed the need to raise awareness about aphasia (a language disorder that most people have never heard of) in recognition of the World Stroke Day, October 29, 2019.
We created this short video (with Flagler College journalist/students) regarding “Aim High for Aphasia.” My contribution to the “call to action” is my plan, Aim High for Aphasia! It is the tagline for my National Aphasia Awareness Campaign after my stroke and aphasia in 2011. I started my company, Stroke Educator, Inc. in 2015 and has often been referred to as Johnny Appleseed of Aphasia Awareness.
The most common cause of aphasia is stroke (about 25-40% of stroke survivors acquire aphasia). It can also result from head injury, brain tumor or other neurological causes.
Aphasia affects about two million Americans and is more common than Parkinson’s Disease, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. Nearly 180,000 Americans acquire the disorder each year. However, most people have never heard of it.
Recognition of today’s World Stroke Day 2019 can help focus on both stroke and aphasia, and target the word “aphasia” as a worldwide language disorders that have yet to be “discovered” with fewer than 9% in a survey of US respondents that knew that aphasia is a language disorder and identified as “aphasia aware”. A big Aphasia (and Stroke) Awareness Day!
