Seminar on Aphasia disorder from February 23

Today, after repeated sessions at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where she underwent an intensive aphasia programme, she is all set to give a welcome speech for a seminar addressing the condition - aphasia. 

According to the Aphasia and Stroke Association of India, the condition affects an estimated 8,00,000 to 10,00,000 people annually in India. Since there is no single reporting agency for aphasia and stroke, this number is highly underestimated than the number of actual patients in the country. 

The seminar is an attempt by Sudha’s husband Jayendra Panchapakesan, co-founder of Bhoomika Trust, to pass on the knowledge about the condition to all. 

He says, “When my wife’s condition improved considerably through the sessions at Chicago, I realised that there are many myths about it. First, here experts believe that the progress made in the first 6 months is all the progress that the person makes, This is not true. My wife continues to make progress. Secondly, speech pathologists use the technique applicable for normal individuals. But when all your vocabulary is there in the brain, you need methods to access it and new neural networks must be built. We thought we should share the resources with speech pathologists and it should be available for everyone impacted with aphasia. It is said that one person has the condition, but two people experience it because the caregiver reorients their lives to it.” 

Dr Prakash Boominathan, Professor, Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, says that there are very few experts, working in the field. “There are about 6000 registered speech pathologists in the country and out of these, while many have migrated, the rest are concentrated in cities. Even among those in the cities, there are fewer focusing on this condition that is also seen among road accident victims, with traumatic brain injuries. This is because it is labour intensive and takes a lot of time and patience. In neurology centres, too, such specialists are unavailable,” he says. 

He adds that the strokes have begun to occur in people in their second and third decade, though it is believed that it affects only those above 50 years of age. 

The seminar to be held between February 23 and 25, hosted by the trust and Sri Ramachandra University, will have sessions on various aspects of the condition, including rehabilitation, hands-on workshop and technology. Leora R Cherney, a Senior Research Scientist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Ann K Oehring, a consultant with the Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will be part of the seminar and workshop.