Sonlight Therapy

08/27/2025

06/13/2025

💙 JUNE IS APHASIA AWARENESS MONTH: Did you know that friends matter MORE after aphasia? But many friends pull away. They don't understand aphasia. They don't know how to help. 😔 Do you have a friend with aphasia?

Here's the truth: Your friend with aphasia is still the SAME amazing person! 🌟

How to stay connected:

✅ Remember: Aphasia affects language, NOT intelligence
✅ Try video calls instead of texting
✅ Be patient (this means everything!)
✅ Small kindnesses make big differences

Did you know? 1 in 3 stroke survivors has aphasia. That's millions of people worldwide.

At The Aphasia Recovery Connection, our nonprofit works to end the isolation through community, hope, and caring support. 💜

👉 TAKE ACTION:
• Tag a friend
• Share to spread awareness
• Have a friend with aphasia? Visit AphasiaRecoveryConnection.org to sign up for our newsletter! You'll learn about ARC's FREE Friends and Family Training session we offer every month. It's an impactful sessions full of awesome tips to help you stay connected!

Together, we can end the isolation of aphasia. 🌻

06/05/2025

The bodies of people with Down syndrome regulate body temperature differently compared to people without Down syndrome. This can put them at a greater risk of overheating when they exercise, are in a warm room, or are outside in hot weather. As we enter the warmer summer months, it is important to keep this in mind. People with Down syndrome may need to drink more water, take more breaks, or move to a cooler place. Brian Chicoine, MD, shares more information on temperature regulation in people with Down syndrome in the article linked below.
🔗 https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/temperature-regulation-in-people-with-down-syndrome/

06/03/2025

June is National Dysphagia Awareness Month 💙

Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, affects up to 15 million Americans and can lead to serious health risks like choking, malnutrition, and dehydration. Swallowing is something we do over 700 times a day—and it takes over 50 muscle pairs to do it safely!

Let’s raise awareness, support those living with swallowing disorders, and advocate for better care and understanding.

🔹 Learn more: nfosd.org

🔹

04/28/2025

Do you know someone living with aphasia? 🤔

This communication disorder impacts the ability to understand and/or express speech after a stroke or brain injury.

Here are some simple tips to better support people with aphasia like using drawings 🖼️, speaking slowly 🐌, reducing background noise 🔕, and allowing extra response time ⏳.

Join us in learning how we can make communication easier for people with aphasia!

Check out this resource from the Aphasia Recovery Connection to get started 👉

With more understanding and small adjustments from all of us, we can make a big difference! 🙌

Who else wants to help create a more inclusive, communication-friendly world? Let us know in the comments! Are you in? Spread the word and share these tips!




www.aphasiarecoveryconnection.org

12/10/2024

Let’s help bridge the gaps in communication and make the world more inclusive, not exclusive. It all starts with family and friends. ❤️ Share these aphasia tips today. ➡️

12/10/2024

Aphasia Recovery Connection is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the isolation of aphasia survivors and their families. Visit our website to learn more about what we do.

11/21/2024

What a wonderful book!! Highly recommend ❤️ https://www.jumellepress.com/products/a-little-extra-jayne-by-summer-adamson

09/26/2024

09/09/2024

He overcame stuttering! Loved his voice & his talent as an actor!

BREAKING: James Earl Jones, the award-winning stage and screen actor whose deep and booming yet gentle voice led to multiple emblematic movie roles, including one of the greatest villains of all time, has died. He was 93. https://www.wbir.com/article/news/nation-world/james-earl-jones-dead-darth-vader-actor/507-71b15e94-15e0-47fb-88a0-a14a4baa630b

05/08/2024

"I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist."

"So you teach people how to talk?"
"Sit back for a moment and let me tell you what a Speech-Language Pathologist pours their heart into day after day... We help a person, whose brain can no longer send the correct signals to produce basic sentences, answer the simplest of questions so he can participate in social activities with others... We teach memory strategies to someone with dementia so she can remember the names of her grandchildren... We help a child on the autism spectrum with their social skills, in the hopes that the bullying will stop and they will make one friend before the end of the school year... We rehab someone's swallowing muscles so they can have a sip of McAlister's ice tea, because it is their absolute favorite... We give hope to the parents who have finally accepted their child is delayed, after the doctor repeatedly tells them he is just a late talker... We teach someone with new cochlear implants how to communicate without sign language after a lifetime of deafness being all they know... We ease a stuttering child's anxiety when they are preparing to stand up in front of their class to give a book report... We show someone how to apply a passy-muir valve to their tracheostomy so they can use their voice to tell their family "I love you."... We have the difficult conversation with a family to tell them that grandma's cognitive impairments make her unsafe to go back to her home alone... We help a child pronounce certain sounds correctly, after years of others reinforcing the wrong way, when they reach an age where their impairment is no longer considered cute... We help a young, intelligent woman who has had a massive stroke learn to use a speech-generating device so that she can return to her vibrant and capable self...We place voice prostheses to allow a Laryngeal Cancer survivor to tell his family he loves them after cancer so cruelly took his voice from him....and we think about these people when we're falling asleep at night and we pray for them and we spend time off the clock and our own money on things that we think may help them even the slightest... and we are often misunderstood and overlooked. So if you know a Speech-Language Pathologist, tell them thank you and give them a hug, because I promise you, after spending their days pouring their hearts into others, they need someone to replenish theirs.”

❤ Happy National Speech-Language-Hearing Month to all of my fellow SLPs! ❤️

04/26/2024

7 more days until our Night of Aphasia Arts! So excited!