Speech and Language Therapy

Pete gets one session of SALT per week, lasting about an hour. For the rest of the days it is up to us to keep on at it on our own. As I have said, we are now trying to concentrate on letters and their sounds in order that eventually, hopefully, Pete will be able to write some words. It is going to be a long laborious task. Today Bev was writing 2 letters and then saying the letters and their sounds and getting him to point to the correct one, it takes several tries for him to distinguish which one is right - the big sticking point is the sounds. Pete is still not good at connecting them up which, I think, he is finding very depressing, as you would. It is hard enough trying to learn the English language without the fact that you did once know it all. It is very hard going for us both. Also, I find that 15 to 20 minutes is enough time at one go, then Pete starts to get down about it and tries too hard - do you know what I mean?
I have been trying to find information on how to communicate with someone with aphasia (which is defined as having difficulty with speech and language) but have found absolutely nothing on dealing with Pete's situation. They all say give the person time to get words out, ask them to write or draw - nothing on what to do when all that is impossible as well as gestures being mostly out of the question. The only way he can communicate is to nod or shake his head yes or no, and these are always accompanied by the word yea. We watched a video on YouTube today that was titled 'Sarah tells how it is with aphasia' - the optimum word being 'tells', she speaks well but cannot read. I know we are not the only people dealing with this level of severity but no-one seems to want to admit it exists and how to cope. Pete gets my attention by tapping my arm and from then on it is a guessing game. I would love for someone else in the same position to get in touch and tell me how they cope. Anyone?
Next week we have got a lady from Connect coming to see us. She had a stroke 10 years ago and, from what I can gather, also lost her speech but has now recovered it. I am hoping she may have some answers for me. She is the lady setting up the group in Braunton for people with aphasia, but to be honest, the more I think about it Pete is just going to be sitting there not being able to give any input. I am probably just trying to imagine the worst case scenario in the hope that it will be different to that.
How to end today? Just say Goodnight I think.