When you came across the name "Integrative, Reconnective Aphasia Therapy," in your google or bing search, you may have questioned why a speech pathologist working with individuals who have trouble communicating would want to name her business with words that sound confusing and are challenging to pronounce. So I thought I'd give you a little background on where the name came from and why it stuck...
Aphasia is a language disorder, often caused by a stroke or brain injury to the left hemisphere of the brain, resulting in challenges with speaking, understanding language, reading, writing, and using numbers.
According to the National Aphasia Association (NAA), 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.
For a person with Aphasia to progress, treatment needs to be INTEGRATIVE. A holistic, cohesive treatment plan needs to be created, bringing together all internal and external communication variables within and outside of the individual. Treatment needs to target an infusion of all aspects of the individual’s needs, including speech and language, cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual. Additionally, the language therapy provided will integrate various treatment concepts and approaches in order to meet the individual needs of the client.
Therapy is both restorative and compensatory in nature, aiming to RECONNECT brain pathways that have been affected by the stroke or brain injury, as well as supplementing preserved communicative skills with compensatory strategies and aids, improving overall communicative abilities. Therapy also needs to aim at reconnecting the client with their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing, again focusing on a whole person recovery approach. We hope to RECONNECT the individual to their social relationships, hobbies and interests, and careers and education using revolutionary approaches to recovery and improving overall communicative effectiveness.
We will develop a unique, individualized treatment plan that will stem from a thorough speech and language assessment, as well as specific goals identified by the person with aphasia and/or their loved ones. Inspiration for treatment comes from you as the client, and we continue to adjust your treatment program, attacking your communicative needs from new and different angles.
Hence the name Integrative, Reconnective Aphasia Therapy was born:)
