SUBJECT: Master the mouse, aphasia therapy, aphasia drug treatment
THE NEURO NEWSLETTER – May 2002
Timely, useful information for speech therapists, those with speech & language difficulties, and their caregivers.
-Clay Nichols, Editor
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CONTENTS
1. | READER | *Determination* |
2. | ON THE WEB
| *How to use Windows: free guide* |
3. | NEW THERAPY | *Learn Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms* |
4. | RECOVERY | *Stroke Recovery Guide* |
5. | CLINICAL | *Many years of recovery possible |
6. | HUMOR & | *Two Choices* |
Please visit our sponsor:
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1. READER RESPONSE
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" I read your newsletter each month and always glean something I can use with my mom (the stroke patient) and my dad (the caregiver.) I also get something I can use myself as a person recovering from a brain injury-- (I will never ride a bike without wearing a helmet!) My injury helps me know even more what my mom is going through. And, I do think it’s time to get Dad the computer for so many reasons—as support for a caregiver--- and to get it for Mom to use as well. I’ve printed some samples of your exercises with her and they’ve been so helpful."
-Peggy K.
"Anyway, thanks again! The programs are absolutely WONDERFUL! My husband is no longer sitting in front of the TV during the day -- or evening! He says he has to get busy on his programs. He has some difficulty with the highway signs, so he often requests that program. Determination!!"
-Brenda Gourd -caregiver, wife and author of Pieces of My Heart, a book of poetry. More info on Brenda at:
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Microsoft Windows was designed to be easy for the non-technical user to operate. This website describes only those aspects of Windows that are intended for every day tasks by those of us who consider ourselves to be computer users, not necessarily computer technicians, computer engineers, or computer scientists.
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Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms
This program is for higher level word-retrieval ("word-finding") common in aphasia. Full details on our website:
http://www.BungalowSoftware.com/sah.htm
Displays a prompt such as "Up is the opposite of ___". The patient chooses or types the correct answer. As the title suggests, has lessons where the patient finds a word that has the same meaning (Synonym), opposite meaning (Antonym) or finds another word that sounds the same (Homonym).
Highest levels are very challenging. The patient is given a definition. S/he must then match that to the defintion of another word that SOUNDS the same.
Appropriate for:
* Word retrieval
* Vocabulary development
* Reasoning
EXAMPLES
Below are some example exercises from Synonyms, Antonyms, & Homonyms.
Easiest Lesson
BIG is the opposite of
a. small
b. large
c. bag
d. bug
(Answer: a. Small)
Highest Lesson
"precipitation is ___" which sounds like the word for :
a. kitchen appliance which keeps food cold.
b. pants made with denim
c. the rule of royalty
d. paper which assists route-finding
(Answer: C, because "the rule of royalty" is "Reign" which SOUNDS LIKE "rain". Precipitation is "rain")
Features:
Over 350 exercises
14 different lessons, each at adifferent difficulty.
Sound cues provided for the Homonym lessons.
FREE TRIAL
You can download a free trial of Synonyms… from:
http://www.BungalowSoftware.com/download/synonyms_install.exeOr go to the Bungalow website DOWNLOAD PAGE. This program is File #10 on that page:
http://www.bungalowsoftware.com/downloadfiles.htm<A HREF="http://www.BungalowSoftware.com/downloadfiles.htm">Click here to download free trials</A>
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4. RECOVERY RESOURCE
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Do you think of stroke questions only AFTER you leave the doctor's office? This free guide can help you.
This booklet is about stroke rehabilitation. Its goal is to help the person who has had a stroke achieve the best possible recovery. Its purpose is to help people who have had strokes and their families get the most out of rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation works best when stroke survivors and their families work together as a team. For this reason, both stroke survivors and family members are encouraged to read all parts of the booklet.
Read the free guide online at:
http://www.strokecenter.org/pat/ras_toc.htm
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FREE SERVICES FOR SLPS!!!!!
http://www.Speech-LanguagePathologist.org , also known as http://www.SpeechTherapist.net is dedicated to providing information and free services to Speech-Language Pathologists including email, job classifieds, products, courses, message board, guestbook, chatroom, and resource links.
Come see us today!
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Recovery is possible for years. If therapy is *engaging*
"Evidence has been accumulating that functional gains are possible even many years after the damage. However, postacute rehabilitation must be motivating and related to real-life functional activities, or it may fail to enlist active participation."
That's part of the idea behind Bungalow Software. It allows patients to work *independently* which is very motivating for them.
"Tell me and I forget.
Show me and I remember.
Involve me and I understand.
-- Chinese Proverb
Read more of the study at:
http://www.thomasland.com/tsr08401.htmMore Clinical Research Abstracts
http://www.thomasland.com/_nonsearch/topics_in_stroke_rehabilitation.htm
MAY IS BETTER SPEECH & HEARING MONTH
http://professional.asha.org/resources/bhs_main.cfmSince 1927, May has been designated Better Hearing and Speech Month. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists have made a special effort during this month to inform, educate, and to raise public awareness of speech, language, and hearing disorders that affect over 42 million Americans. Better Hearing and Speech Month is a time to remember that the professional role of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist does not end with providing clinical services. Raising public awareness about communication disorders is an important part of being a member of these professions and May is the perfect time to communicate some important information about hearing and speech. Don' t miss out on this opportunity!
For ideas to raise public awareness, see the ASHA website:
http://professional.asha.org/resources/bhs_main.cfm
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Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.
When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, "Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood". I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it’s not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter, " Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "...The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man." I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity." Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live...operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." Michael lived, thanks to the skill
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 You have two choices now:
1. Delete this
2. Forward it to the people you care about.
I hope you will choose #2. I did.
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