I'm a speech-language pathologist & co-founder of Tactus. Tactus offers evidence-based apps for aphasia therapy and lots of free resources, articles, and education - like this newsletter. Sign up to get my updates 1-2 times a month.
Resource Round-Up: 💬 Aphasia, 🧠 Cognition, 🏳️🌈 Pride, & 🎲 Games
I've got some pretty amazing resources for you this month! Let me know which ones you find useful.
1. 📄 Treatment of Aphasia: This new article by Fridriksson & Hillis in the Journal of Stroke discusses all the current approaches to the treatment of post-stroke aphasia, and it's free to download and read! If you're looking for a good overview article for your class, grad student, or journal club, this is a great one to read.
2. 🏳️🌈 FREE Course for SLPs from Transplaining: I recently took an online course to learn the basics of what SLPs need to know to serve trans and gender-diverse people in an inclusive and respectful way, and it was fantastic! So I’ve worked out a deal so that YOU can take this $50 intro course for FREE with our link! There's no expiration on this 37-minute course, so please take it and share the link.
Learn what you should (and shouldn’t) be asking or putting on your forms, what to talk about or avoid, and other tips on “how to treat people before you treat them”. If you want to keep learning, an affordable monthly subscription gets you access to all the courses and more. Follow Transplaining on Instagram for updates.
3. 📊 Research Study Seeks Subjects: If you know an English-speaking adult who has lived with aphasia for at least 6 months who would like to participate in a web-based research study about emotional growth post-stroke, please invite them to watch this video and contact Dr. Tami Brancamp at tbrancamp@med.unr.edu. It will only take a few hours of their time and will help us better understand post-traumatic growth. I particularly love the video explanation of this study - very aphasia-friendly!
4. 👴 Aphasia Comic Strip: Years ago the For Better or Worse comic featured a poignant story line about Grandpa Jim having a stroke and dealing with aphasia. I used to put these comics up on my rehab unit for Aphasia Awareness Month. Now you can read, print, and share them too, all here on this stroke storyline.
5. 🏡 The Apartment for Dementia: The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has put together a wonderful video and guide about how to modify a person's home to be more dementia-friendly. Not only is this a lovely example of how we can help our patients with environmental modification (rather than only focusing on impairments), it's also a brilliant use of technology!
6. 😃 Aphasia-Friendly Games: Games are a fun way to engage with friends and family, both in person and online. People with aphasia can enjoy playing games, as long as they're designed in the right way. Check out the Aphasia Games for Health, a collaborative effort making aphasia-friendly games accessible. They have four game prototypes available to download for FREE!
7. 🧠 Cognitive Effects of COVID: While the worst days of the pandemic are hopefully behind us, we'll be dealing with the aftermath for some time. For many survivors, that means long-term cognitive impairments. And for us SLPs, that means a lot more cognitive treatments will be needed. Read more about the hidden long-term cognitive effects of COVID-19 from the Harvard Health blog.
8. 📱Trade Up for a New iPad: Did you know you can get an instant estimate on the trade-in value of your current Apple device and apply that toward the purchase of a new device? Find out how much your older device is worth; a new one might be closer than you think!
9. 🏃 Improving Cognition Holistically: While exercises and strategies can improve thinking skills, there are other lifestyle adjustments that can help too. I love going over all these activities for improving memory with clients who are concerned about their cognitive health. First we read, then we discuss, next they plan, and later we recap. Therapy materials can be therapeutic in many ways!
10. 🍪 Stealing Cookies in the 21st Century: Did you know that there's an updated version of the famous Cookie Theft picture you can use to elicit a discourse sample in your aphasia assessment? This ASHA journal article has two new pictures with a man doing dishes...poorly.
📱 ICYMI - 5 Important Aphasia Downloads You May Have Missed:
- Setting Up a Successful Home Program- 7-page HEP guide
- 15 Treatments for Verbal Expression - quick guide with evidence for SLPs
- 50 Things to Help a Person with Aphasia - handy list of ideas for families
- 10 Aphasia Myths Busted - share these to raise aphasia awareness
- How to Talk to Someone with Aphasia - a list of strategies to teach
I hope you found something of interest here! Have a great week,
Megan
P.S. If you have something you would like me to consider adding to the next Resource Round-Up, please send it my way!
Megan @ Tactus Therapy
I'm a speech-language pathologist & co-founder of Tactus. Tactus offers evidence-based apps for aphasia therapy and lots of free resources, articles, and education - like this newsletter. Sign up to get my updates 1-2 times a month.
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