You may notice a new option in the navigation bar at the top of our site: Legacy. The legacy pages are a new section of our site aimed at memorializing members of our aphasia community. Like Aphasia Threads, this new section of the site is designed to highlight personal stories. We want to show the world the similarities and unique aspects of each aphasia experience. And we want to make sure that people who experienced aphasia or aided those who have aphasia are not forgotten.

We invite anyone who has lost a loved one who experienced aphasia or anyone who worked with people with aphasia (in either a caregiver or professional capacity) to create a legacy page on behalf of their friend or family member.

The initiative is in place for people we lose in the future, but we also encourage people to create legacy pages for people who died years ago. There is no time limit for our legacy pages; just a desire to gather our community close and ensure they will not be forgotten.

Creating a Legacy Page

Anyone can create a legacy page. Family members can create one for a loved one. Friends can create a legacy page for a former member of their support group. Students can create a page for a former professor.

The legacy pages are simple. They include a name, the death date (and a birth date can also be added), and an image of the person. They also include a paragraph about their aphasia, their life, or their contribution to the aphasia community. For example, our first legacy pages are for two major contributors to the aphasia community, Mike Adler and Shirley Morganstein. You can read their legacy pages to get a sense of the project, but don’t feel limited by these write-ups.

Your paragraph may include:

  • A story about your loved one’s aphasia
  • Personality traits you want the world to know
  • A story that represents who they were as a person
  • Special things they accomplished during their life

We’ve created a simple form so you can provide all the necessary information, and you can access that form here or via the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Read About a Legacy

In addition to contributing a legacy page, we encourage you to read and leave a comment on other people’s legacy pages. These stories represent the contributions––big and small but all important––that people have made to our community. You can make a donation in their name (please include their name in the “on behalf” section), or continue their legacy by educating the general public about aphasia.

We will be adding a name search function to the page in the future.

If you have questions, please do not leave them on this post. Instead, email us so we can help you with the legacy pages.