Aphasia Health Fair helps connect community with support services

Aphasia, most commonly caused by having a stroke, is a language disorder that impacts a person’s ability to understand and express language.

The Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences (CDS), College of Arts and Sciences, recently hosted the first UB Aphasia Health Fair to give community members who struggle with aphasia the support and resources they need to help improve their daily lives.

More than two dozen community members, among them previous research participants and current clients of CDS’ Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Clinic, attended the fair on June 1 in Hayes Hall. The event included more than 35 vendors who shared resources and information. In addition, a panel discussion featured individuals with aphasia, as well as speech language pathologist experts.

The event was organized by Nichol Castro, assistant professor in CDS whose research focuses on word retrieval in aging adults and adults with language impairments, such as aphasia and dementia.

“People sometimes assume cognition is bad with those who have aphasia, but it’s not,” Castro said. “They just have trouble connecting the pieces all together to get the words out and expressing can be really difficult.

“It was incredible to see people at the fair meeting others with aphasia and feeling a sense of comradery about their shared experiences living with aphasia,” she added. “They really liked meeting one another and learning from the fair’s vendors.”

Among the vendors at the UB Aphasia Health Fair:

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Provides resources to save lives and support people affected by suicide.
• BE Embodied Yoga. Teaches adaptive chair yoga and mindfulness.
• Diversified Rehabilitation Services. Provides speech, language and hearing services in Western New York.
• Neuro Speech Solutions. Offers speech and language services for people with aphasia and other communication disorders.
• ECMC Driver Education and Adaptive Driving Program: Offers adaptive driving support, such as left hand/foot controls in car.
• UB Adult Language Network Lab: Researchers aim to improve assessment and treatment for people with aphasia.
• UB Communication Recovery Collective: A communication support group for people with aphasia.
• UBMD Neurology: Provides stroke education and resources.
• UB Nutrition Science program: Shares information about heart-healthy nutrition in aphasia-friendly formats.
• UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences: Shares information about drug management in aphasia-friendly formats.

In addition to the resources available at the fair, Castro noted there is more the community can do to help those who have the condition.

“There is a big need for aphasia awareness,” she said. “Just giving people more time when communicating and being patient goes a long way.”

“A lot of people want to jump in and fill in the word that is missing, but this can be detrimental,” she added. “Ask people if they want help. You can support their communication with alternative modalities, like pointing, drawing or writing.”

Castro’s research aims to better understand the mechanism that supports positive treatment outcomes for people with aphasia. Her research uses behavioral studies and computational modeling. 

The department plans to host the event again next year. For more information about the Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Clinic, visit its website.