Aphasia: Struggling for Understanding

Synopsis: What if your ability to speak or understand speech was taken away with no warning and you struggled to find words that just won’t come? This is what happens to people with aphasia, which occurs when the language centres of the brain are damaged by stroke or brain injury. While it affects more than one million Americans, many people have never heard of it. But there are ways to help aphasics express themselves. Language pathologist Susan Watts explains: "We can’t cure aphasia -- we can’t fix the brain when it is effected by stroke -- but sometimes people can learn new words and learn new ways to communicate."

This film is about two people faced with the daunting task of learning to speak again despite the sad fact that "...a person without language is a non-person," as stated by the wife of one of them. One had practised law for thirty-seven years; the other owned a contracting business. Both make progress with the considerable assistance of their compassionate families.
Language: English
Country: Canada
Year of release: 2009
Year of production: 2008
Subjects: Medical sciences; Social welfare
Keywords: aphasia; language disorders

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