What Is Aphasia? — Inside the Condition Nobody Talks About

Most people have never heard the word aphasia — and that’s exactly the problem. In this episode, Kristen Toepfer breaks it down from the inside out. Aphasia is a brain disorder that affects a person’s ability to speak, understand, read, write, and even process numbers — and it affects millions of stroke survivors who are left to navigate it with little public awareness and even less understanding from the people around them.Kristen gets real about what it was actually like to lose language completely. For two years after her stroke she couldn’t talk, couldn’t use a phone, couldn’t get on the internet — she sat in her backyard and watched birds because that was all she could do. She describes the disconnect between having a sharp, fully functioning mind and being completely unable to get a single word out of her mouth. Her thoughts were all there. Her voice was not.In this episode you’ll hear how speech therapy works from the beginning — learning associations all over again, starting with baby books, sounding out syllables like a child learning to talk for the very first time. Kristen also covers physical therapy, occupational therapy, and what spasticity actually feels like when your arm gets locked and you have to fight your own body just to move your fingers.And true to the spirit of this podcast — from the funny to the yucky — Kristen shares the story of accidentally buying what she thought was a cart full of $2 items on Amazon, and the time her aphasia had her walking into the men’s bathroom more than once. Wearing a helmet.This episode also covers stroke prevention — including a smoothie recipe Billy swears by, why you need a blood pressure cuff at home, and why by the time you feel your blood pressure it may already be too late.Honest, educational, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. This is what aphasia really looks like.Subscribe, share, and follow Kristen’s journey at kristentoepfer.comJoin Kristen and cohost Billy Montana for monthly episodes filled with advocacy, education, and inspiring conversations.Together, let's raise awareness for stroke and aphasia and support each other on the journey to recovery.http://kristentoepfer.com