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Our April chat was all about aphasia solutions. We asked people: “What problems has aphasia caused in your life, and what workarounds or solutions have you found?” From useful tools to setting rules for family or friends, our group had 19 great aphasia solutions that you may find helpful, too. 

Aphasia Solutions

  1. Be patient with yourself! Set up your rules for your family and friends. I have a rule with my friends and family. They have to give me three times to say the right word before they can help me! Be your own advocate. — Brooke A
  2. Doing the checks to pay bills — I have an app that will help. — Walter S
  3. Finding favorite words and using my “GoPad” to help. — Elizabeth H
  4. Frustration, self-doubt, depression — but I pour myself into artwork, and this helps — Julia B
  5. I always tell people I haven’t met that I’ve had a stroke and that it’s hard for me to talk before I begin to speak. — Jim H
  6. I can’t speak clearly, and other people have a hard time understanding me. I use a whiteboard to write keywords on. — Jackie
  7. I can’t talk and reading is hard. I read books aloud and join group chats. — Manuel O
  8. I could not read and write and talk… much better after 5 years (my husband is helping me). I keep a notebook of words to remember when I think of them. — Chantal P
  9. I had to retire early. You need to take life one day at a time — Debi S
  10. I hear a word, but the word has no meaning to me. Typing or writing it down helps remind me what the word means. — Bruce L
  11. I often find that while I can mentally comment or remember an idea or information, I am less able to speak about them. That makes me less able to communicate or discuss issues. — Debbie M
  12. My PPA has greatly affected my ability to communicate verbally, and it has taken away my ability to sequence, hence, I don’t cook anymore. When my husband cooks with me, I can figure most things out. He helps me with the vast majority of whatever communication I am still able to do on my own. I am thankful he is my caregiver. — Joyce D
  13. Not doing spontaneous speech — Alex B
  14. Script training — Erica
  15. Sometimes, I can’t say what I want to. Slow down — Chris L
  16. Speaking up during staff meetings. Because it takes me longer to say want I want, usually the conversation has moved on. I just tend to write my thoughts into the chat instead. — Silvia W
  17. The trouble I had was speaking to a group of people. I purposely put myself out there to speak in front of as many people as possible. — James M
  18. We write our thoughts. Like a dental appointment script, a script for a doctor’s appointment, and various thoughts brought on by conversations, and then we will rewrite the conversations and will record or dictate messages. — Kristin N
  19. When asked a question on the spot, I sometimes freeze and can’t think of a response. I do training for a living. Now I co-train with someone who can pick up the slack when my brain freezes. — Kathy