Helping Aphasia Patients Find Their Voices

(CBS 5) Whether she's in exercise class, turning her artwork into greeting cards, or participating in group therapy, Judi Briano is happy she found the Aphasia Center of California. She's been coming to the Center in Oakland since it opened 10 years ago, two years after she suffered a brain aneurysm.

"When I first came here.. I wouldn't raise my head," Judi explains. "I couldn't say my name. I could not do anything, and I'm telling you, if it wasn't for this group, Aphasia Group, I think I would be in a rest home."

Roberta Elman, a speech and language pathologist, started the Aphasia Center -- the first of its kind in the country. She and her staff have helped more than 600 clients and their families cope with aphasia, which usually results from a stroke that scrambles the language center of the brain.

She says, "We've probably all experienced 'tip of the tongue' phenomenon, where you're trying to think of a word or someone's name and it doesn't come, and eventually it comes. Well, (for) someone with aphasia, that's happening all the time."

To get the center started, Roberta quit her job and volunteered countless hours of her time for the first two years.

"It's been a big financial sacrifice," she admits. "But the benefits emotionally, intellectually, professionally, for me and my colleagues here, have been huge. And my father used to tell me money isn't everything!"

What is everything to Roberta is seeing the tremendous progress her clients make over time. Jim Santana's wife, Patty, says when he came to the Aphasia Center eight years ago, he was depressed and withdrawn. Now, he's outgoing and optimistic.

"They've given him the ability to try other means other than speech to communicate," says Patty. "It has also taught him that it's ok if you can't get your point across today. We'll try it tomorrow. "

The work Roberta and her staff do has become a model for other therapists around the world to set up similar programs. Still, she says, there are so many more who need this kind of therapy who aren't getting it.

"It isn't a rare disorder," she says. "There are between one and two million people in the United States who are living with aphasia, but because they have the disorder, it is difficult for them to communicate about it."

Thanks to Roberta and her staff, people with aphasia are regaining their voices and getting their lives back on target. For that and more, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Roberta Elman of Oakland.

By Barbara Rodgers

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Aphasia Center of California