Speech and Language Recovery Following Stroke...What Are You Feeding Your Brain?

Over the last year I have read a number of research articles discussing brain recovery and neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to self-repair and re-organize after injury as well as the ability to influence brain recovery through outside stimulation or therapies.

Advances in neuroimaging techniques are improving understanding of how brain recovery occurs, including recovery from aphasia , a common speech and language disturbance which often occurs as a result of a stroke.

Scientists and medical researchers from many fields, including speech-language pathology are interested in applying new scientific findings to clinical practice.

There is growing evidence, for example that repetition and practice of a skill are important to the repair process. There are also many unanswered questions:

* Is therapy most effective in the first weeks and months after a stroke or does recovery potentially continue for years?

* If a person has a stroke on the left side of their brain where most language functions reside, can stimulating the right side of the brain, say for example with music, impact recovery of language function?

As advances in neuroimaging techniques allow us to actually look at the brain, we may obtain a better understanding of how speech and language therapy actually influences brain structures as well as an understanding of what type of therapy is most beneficial for improving day to day communication.

With limited insurance payment available for most rehabilitation treatment, further understanding about brain recovery , including the best time for treatment and the best types of treatments may help to guide professionals, patients and their families in knowing when to begin treatment and strategies for helping patients continue treatment at home, on their own.

Have you ever had a song or jingle, or maybe someone's angry message to you stuck in your head for a day? You know, one of those times when the melody or the words play over and over again on your brain's endless loop? Perhaps that is evidence for all of us of the power of external stimuli on our brain. To that end, I would like to make a suggestion if you or someone in your family is recovering from a stroke:

TURN OFF THE TV NEWS!

Stop that endless recapitulation of days events, most of them tragic, and stop the strident voices of angry newscasters from entering your brain's fragile sowing field.

Play music, listen to books on tape, ask your speech therapist to develop audio tapes for home practice.

Recovering Speech After Stroke...How To Continue Practice When Therapy Ends..

Stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and elsewhere. If there is speech and language loss (aphasia) due to the the stroke, speech therapy will often begin in the hospital, or within days of symptoms occurring. Speech therapy may be provided on a daily basis in the early weeks and months while an individual is participating in rehabilitation, with growing evidence that this early speech therapy treatment may take advantage of the brain's spontaneous healing process, helping with the recovery of injured areas.

So, what happens,than, when formal therapy ends? Does recovery of speech also end?

When loss of speech is a long-lasting symptom of a stroke,it can dramatically change the life of a person leading to frustration, depression, and withdrawal from life activities. The end of therapy can often trigger feelings of sadness for a spouse or other family members, who may wonder what they can now do to continue the healing process.

With growing evidence that some individuals may still benefit from therapy months an even years following a stroke, some innovative home programs are now available which enable a person to have daily practice and repetition for as long as they desire.

One such program is the Computerized Aphasia Home Therapy Program (CHAT). CHAT was developed by a friend and colleague of mine, Mr William (Bill) Pitts. Now retired ,and living in Cleveland, Ohio, Bill worked for over 35 years with patients recovering from aphasia after stroke, and he was very visionary in his approach to treatment. Bill was aware of two important factors: insurance companies were not going to pay for months of treatment,and also, many patients and their families want to continue to practice long after formal therapy ends, So, Bill began to write and develop a computer assisted approach to home practice. Now, what makes him so visionary, is that when he launched his program in 1980, NOBODY had a home computer. With a grant from Easter Seals, Bill launched his first home program, and now, with home computers so common, the CHAT program is a great option for motivated patients. With 220 programs contained within CHAT, motivated patients can literally practice daily for months without getting bored.

Recently, I have found a few unexpected uses for the speech production tasks. The words, phrases, and sentences provide great practice material for some of my Parkinson's patients who don't know what to say when practicing their "loud" voice at home. I have also used the CHAT program successfully with patients that are experiencing some language loss due to early Alzheimer's or Lewy Body Dementia.

For more information, please visit: http://www.aphasia-therapy.com/