Kessler Foundation Convenes Aphasia Summit
Opinion leaders from around the nation gathered to share their experiences with the latest in intervention.
Kessler Foundation Convenes First National Aphasia Summit
July 8, 2010 WEST ORANGE, N.J.—Kessler Foundation, in association with Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (KIR), hosted the first national Aphasia Summit, entitled “Innovative Physiologic Treatments for Aphasia,” on Monday, June 21. The goal was to develop a plan of treatment for aphasia, encourage responsible innovation in rehabilitation, and develop a research agenda for this disabling complication of stroke.
Experts in the field of aphasia—physicians, researchers, psychologists and speech-language pathologists (S.L.P.)—gathered from around the country to share their experience with the latest treatments, including magnetic and electrical brain stimulation, new medications and individualized behavioral therapy. Depending on the parts of the brain affected by the stroke, a combination of these treatments may be most effective.
“Aphasia has not received coordinated attention in large-scale ‘big science’ studies of stroke or neurological disease,” said Anna Barrett, M.D., Director of the Stroke Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at Kessler Foundation. “Unless we start research conferences and initiatives focused on the needs of people with aphasia and how to advance their care, they will be left out of the next wave of advances in neurological medicine and rehabilitation.”
Aphasia is a communication disorder that affects 20-30% of all stroke survivors. It impairs the brain’s ability to understand and process language, which affects the person’s ability to speak and read. Intelligence, however, is not affected. Aphasia affects an estimated 159-238,000 people each year, greatly outnumbering people with spinal cord injury, brain and nervous system cancer and newly diagnosed Parkinson Disease combined.
Keynote speaker Micaela Cornis-Pop, Ph.D., CCC-S.L.P. from the Department of Veterans Affairs, focused on the needs of wounded and aging warriors with communication disorders.
“[Aphasia] affects communication and communication is so important to human nature,” said Cornis-Pop. “It is so important for the process of recovery and the maintenance of recovery. The ability to communicate is essential to maintaining relationships with the support group as well as with health care providers.”
The Aphasia Summit was sponsored by Kessler Foundation, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Dynavox Mayer Johnson, Lingraphica, National Aphasia Association and American Society of Neurorehabilitation.
Kessler Foundation and Kessler Institute are collaborators in stroke rehabilitation research and treatment. Kessler Foundation Research Center investigates innovative methods of treatment and technology to aid recovery. Its relationship with Kessler Institute, the largest rehabilitation hospital in the country, provides researchers with the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of new approaches.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation strives to be a leader in rehabilitation research and grant making that benefit people with disabilities. The Foundation’s mission is to improve quality of life for people with physical disabilities through discovery, innovation, demonstration, application, and dissemination. Kessler Foundation Research Center conducts research that improves function and quality of life for persons with injuries of the spinal cord and brain, stroke, multiple sclerosis and other chronic neurological and orthopedic conditions. Kessler Foundation also supports programs that promote the employment of people with disabilities through its Program Center’s “Transition to Work” Signature and Community Employment Grants. The Foundation’s Special Initiative Grants support educational programs like ‘ThinkFirst’, an injury prevention program aimed at children and teens. Kessler Foundation has a full-time staff of 90 individuals, divided between two locations in West Orange, New Jersey.
For more information, visit www.KesslerFoundation.org
###
Kessler Foundation Contact:
Lauren Scrivo
973-243-6995
[email protected]
Carolann Murphy
973-325-8382
[email protected]
