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If you did One Aphasia Action this spring (and it’s not too late to do the activities now!), you know that we love bite-sized, actionable ideas you can do from home. We wanted to keep the progress going through Aphasia Awareness Month.

 

Each week, we’re giving you five tips that we crowdsourced from people with aphasia, their caregivers, and professionals who work with people who have aphasia. They’re activities you can do without leaving home that will help you practice your speech or make life a little easier if you have aphasia.

 

Try out the activities below this week and make sure you fill out the form and leave your tip. (Pssst: You don’t need to write a lot. We’ll flesh out short tips with examples, as you’ll see below.)

MONDAY: You’re a Poet AND You Know It

Poetry is about playing with words, so write a poem. You don’t need to fuss with iambic pentameter and rhymed schemes—there are plenty of simple poetry forms that you can use to get started with expressing your feelings. An acrostic is written by taking a single word—such as a person’s name—and writing it down the left side of the page. Now think of a word that describes that person that uses each letter of the name. For example, if the name is “Sam,” the words you may use are “sunny” (for S), “athletic” (for A), and “musical” (for M). If you want something a little more challenging, write a lune or take your time and write a nonet. –This activity submitted by Lisa

TUESDAY: I Spy

“I spy with my little eye, something that beginning with W.” Um… is it words? Yes! You guessed it on the first try. All of your games of I Spy won’t be as easy, though the game is a fantastic way to practice speech. One person says, “I spy with my little eye, something that beginning with…” They then state the first letter of the object they’re seeing. The other person looks around the space and tries to guess what the person has chosen. Take turns being the chooser and the guesser. –This activity submitted by Kristen

WEDNESDAY: Dashboard Speech Therapy

Kitti and Regina have an impressive example of multitasking, not allowing any potential speech practice go to waste. While driving, they sound out and practice the title of the song and the artist’s name that displays on the dashboard screen. Voila! Speech therapy on wheels. Of course, you don’t need to be in the car to find things to read on a screen. Turn on the news and turn off the sound so you can read the chyron aloud. Or play iTunes roulette, putting your music on shuffle and reading off the title of the song and artist from your mobile device. –This activity submitted by Kitti and Regina

THURSDAY: Memory Descriptions

Grab your photo album (or if you keep your images on your phone, grab your device) and open it up to a picture from an event. Come up with three words—either written or spoken—to describe the event. For example, you can turn to a picture from a wedding and write down love, happiness, and dress. See if you can come up with three new words for each picture, even if you’re looking at images from the same event. This game, by the way, is a lot more fun with another person. So grab a speech partner and get started. –This activity submitted by Heather, an SLP at RESPOND Speech Therapy

FRIDAY: Adjective Day

Spend today looking around you, naming the objects you see. Whenever you name an object, also give it an adjective (or several!) that describes the object. For example, if you’re on a walk, begin by saying “tree.” But then describe the tree with adjectives, such as “tall tree,” “oak tree,” or “pretty tree.” Your chair becomes a comfortable chair, a leather chair, or a brown chair. If you have a communication partner, let them choose the object and then you choose the adjectives. Then switch off! –This activity submitted by Darlene Williamson, President of the NAA and founder of the Stroke Comeback Center

 

Got a great tip? Share it with others by filling out the form. We’ll turn it into an activity in one of the upcoming weeks and give you credit if we use it in a post. (Pssst: Again, you don’t need to write a lot. We’ll flesh out short tips with examples. The ideas above were only a short phrase when they came in on the form.)