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Publicizing Aphasia Goal of MGH Institute Faculty and Students at Statehouse Rally

More than two dozen speech-language pathology students and faculty members, along with many clients and their families of MGH Institute of Health Professions’ Aphasia Center, were part of a rally of more than 300 people at the Massachusetts State House on June 26 to raise awareness about one of the country’s least-known medical conditions.

“It was an amazing experience,” said first-year student Jamie Rivero, who attended the second annual Massachusetts Aphasia Awareness Day event. “I came to the Institute because of its Aphasia Center, and it was inspiring to see other students show their support, and faculty who have devoted their professional lives to helping people with aphasia.”

Aphasia, an acquired language disorder caused by a stroke or brain injury that impairs a person’s ability to communicate but does not affect intelligence, affects more than 350,000 Americans each year. According to the National Aphasia Association, it occurs more commonly than Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, or muscular dystrophy.

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The event was organized by Karen Kelly, whose mother, Joanne Coggins, was afflicted with aphasia after having a stroke in 2008. Kelly’s efforts over the past two years have produced House Bill H4162, which created the 13-member Aphasia Study Commission that has met once to begin studying the prevalence of aphasia in the state and research the unmet needs of individuals. State Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, has sponsored a similar bill in the Senate where it is awaiting a hearing from the Senate Ethics and Rules Committee.

Among the issues raised during the rally was the issue of insurance benefits. Generally, patients receive 10 visits, which aphasia experts say are far too limited.

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“People have improvements for years afterwards,” said Institute Assistant Professor and aphasia researcher Lauryn Zipse, PhD, CCC-SLP, who along with Clinical Assistant Professor Eileen Hunsaker, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS, was one of several aphasia experts who addressed the crowd. “Unfortunately, insurance companies still don’t want to pay for continued treatment. We need to continue to show that treatment for aphasia is worthwhile, even years after aphasia onset.”

Research carried out at the Institute’s Aphasia Center, by Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders faculty members and graduate students, has repeatedly shown that well-targeted treatments can result in improvement even many years after aphasia onset.

And it’s at places like the Aphasia Center, located on the health sciences graduate school's Charlestown Navy Yard campus, where people like Coggins and dozens of others continue to be treated and improve. About one-third of the graduate students in their second year of the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program have a clinical experience in the Center, where they work with clients under the supervision of faculty members. Clients pay little or no money for the services.

Other experts from area colleges with communication sciences and disorders programs who spoke during the rally were Jerome Kaplan, Swathi Kiran, and Elizabeth Hoover from Boston University’s Aphasia Research Lab; and Joanne Lasker and Laura Glufling-Tham from Emerson College’s Robbins Center. Allyson Perron represented the American Heart and Stroke Association, while National Aphasia Association President Darlene S. Williamson attended the event to commemorate National Aphasia Awareness Month.

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