Storytelling to aid persons with aphasia

The Halton Aphasia Centre and Storylines and Halton Hills Speech Centre are launching their unique Storytelling Program for Adults with Aphasia this month. Aphasia is a communication problem that results from an injury to the "language centre" of the brain, most commonly a stroke. Aphasia affects a person's communication abilities NOT their thinking abilities. Aphasia can make it difficult to talk, understand what others say, read or write. It can limit people's social interactions and participation in life as well as erode their self-confidence, self-esteem, and their connection to their community. Over 30,000 people in Ontario have aphasia yet most people do not even know what it is! The Halton Aphasia Centre (HAC) has a 22year history of helping people with this frustrating disability.Currently it runs a weekly social-communication program in Burlington and Georgetown serving people in Halton. In this program people with aphasia interact in small and large group activities run by a speech-language pathologist, communicative disorders assistant and trained volunteers. Storylines is an organization that promotes personal self-worth through the development and delivery of memoir writing, storytelling and intergenerational programs. The Halton Aphasia Centre and Storylines are teaming up to create a dynamic and innovative program to benefit people with aphasia. Their Adult Storytelling Program will offer a bimonthly, entertaining, aphasia-friendly storytelling session led by storyteller extraordinaire, Nora Zylstra-Savage with the assistance of HAC staff and volunteers. Participants will discuss, retell, relate to, dramatize and enjoy the stories using aphasia-friendly materials with the assistance of our well-trained volunteers. This program starts in April and strives to recapture the joy and fun of storytelling for our adults with aphasia. Those interested in finding out more about the Halton Aphasia Centre or the Storytelling program or who want to volunteer can phone 905-702-5312 (Georgetown) or 1-866-2044044. This program is made possible though a generous grant from the New Horizons for Seniors Program, Human Resources Development Canada, Government of Canada.