Transcript
Emma: I’ve got aphasia and it’s caused by the language centers of the brain. Difficulty reading. Speaking. Comprehend. And I was telling to myself, what’s what’s wrong with me? I, I can’t speak, but my words make no sense. And they’re in my head, but I can’t get the words out. Yeah, it was very, very frustrating.
Shannon: My aphasia affects my verbs. So describing words and that sort of thing. So I had to have my family with me when I was making important calls because I have aphasia. So I can’t get the words out quickly and fluently.
Emma: My aphasia was very hard for me to tell me what was wrong. I didn’t know that it was called aphasia. I didn’t understand. About 12 months after my stroke. So, yeah, that was really a light bulb in my head saying “You’ve got aphasia!” Being with the friends that I’ve got through the Maitland Aphasia Communication Group. Just every day we’re laughing and talking and … Yeah, I’m just so thankful that I have them.
Catherine: Definitely Cheltenham Aphasia Group. When I first went there, I was like … cos everything when I went … I had 14 months of rehab. And then they said, okay, you’re ready to leave. And I was out. And I was like “What now?” And then they said there’s a group you can go to. And I’m … So I went and I got more confident. And also I made friends.
Emma: So the bin challenge was my idea. I put a piece of paper that said aphasia is loss of language, not intelligence. And I just read this thing that I needed to say. It’s gone viral. I’m really thankful that I get to spread the word about aphasia.
