Why Aphasia Awareness Matters: What Survivors, Families, and Clinicians Need to Know

Send us Fan Mail Aphasia affects nearly 2 million Americans, yet most people have never heard of it. This episode makes the case for why awareness is not just a campaign, it is a survival issue. From diagnosis to discharge to community reintegration, gaps in knowledge cost survivors time, access, and outcomes. For everyone in the aphasia ecosystem who believes the information gap is a problem worth solving. In this episode of Brain Friends, we invite two stakeholders to celebrate Aphasia Awareness Month, Maura Silverman, the executive director of the National Aphasia Association (NAA), and Gee Jackson, a lawyer and stroke survivor with aphasia. Together we answer two important questions: 1. What do you know about aphasia now that you wish you would have known on day 1? 2. How can we bring awareness to aphasia? Listen, laugh, and learn how you can spread awareness about aphasia. Links:National Aphasia Association-  https://aphasia.org/Aphasia Resource Collaboration Hub (ARCH)-  https://aphasiaresource.org/ https://aphasiaadvocates.com/ for Brain Friends Merchhttps://aphasia.org/event/ask-the-expert-february-2026/https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seleshttps://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. ...