Intensive Aphasia Treatment Program FAQ

Q: What is aphasia?

A: Aphasia is a communication impairment resulting from damage to the language areas of the brain, such as may occur from a stroke or brain injury. It can result in mildly to profoundly reduced abilities in any or all of the language modalities of listening, speaking, reading or writing. Because communication is so central to every aspect of human life, aphasia can interfere with family roles, employment, hobbies and social life; often, aphasia leads to social isolation and depression.

Q: What is the cost of the program?

A: The intensive aphasia therapy program costs $16,000 (Canadian funds) if registered is complete by April 1st, 2012. The price includes all assessment, treatment and supplies. It does not include accommodation, meals, parking and other miscellaneous items of a personal nature. There is no tax on the treatment fee.

Q: Is there any funding available?

A: At present, we are exploring funding sources. We recommend that you contact your local Health Authority's Acquired Brain Injury Services to see if they would assist you with the funding and to explore charitable organizations if you have limited means. If you are an SLP referring a client, we recommend that you do not let financial considerations stop you from informing a client of this program; in our experience, clients can be very resourceful about fund-raising for their own treatment.

Q: Where does the program take place?

A: The program will tentatively take place in an accessible, modern facility on the beautiful campus of the University of British Columbia. We expect that we will be able to confirm the space by March 1st, 2012.

Q: What are the dates?

A: The program begins on June 25th and ends on July 27th. For the first two days, clients and their family members will receive an orientation to the program; clients will also participate in assessment to determine their specific needs and for us to learn their personal goals. For the last three days, clients will have guest speakers from the local community, receive debriefing, an outline of future recommendations/home suggestions and will participate in post-testing to determine progress. For those five days (three at the beginning and two at the end) clients may not be required full time but should make themselves available as needed by the therapy staff. The therapy portion of the program will run Monday to Friday for four consecutive weeks (including the Canada Day holiday Monday July 2st). During this portion, clients will be involved from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm each day.

Q: Who is this program designed for?

A: Our intensive aphasia treatment program is best suited to people who have “chronic” aphasia (that is, aphasia of more than one year duration). In order to be eligible, you must have been diagnosed with aphasia by an SLP, neurologist or physiatrist (a rehabilitation medicine doctor); you must be medically stable and have sufficient stamina and attention to take part in an intensive treatment program of this nature. Participants must be independent for toileting, eating and transfers, or bring someone with them who is capable of assisting with these needs. The program is designed for native speakers of English (or those who had fluent command of English prior to developing aphasia) who also have sufficient vision and hearing to participate in a non-adapted program. If you are unsure about whether the program is suitable to you, please contact info@columbiaspeech.com (please put “intensive aphasia treatment program” in the subject line) or call us at 604-875-9100.

Q: What kinds of treatment will be offered?

A: The specific type of intensive aphasia therapy provided will be decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on your needs and goals. The program is comprehensive, in that multiple treatment approaches are available. In general, treatments will focus on speaking, auditory comprehension, reading and writing, conversational skills, functional communication and use of technology as appropriate. Constraint Induced Language Therapy will be a component of the treatment.

Q: What sort of results should I expect?

A: No guarantee of outcome is provided. However, you can rest assured that the treatment you will receive will be based both on extensive clinical experience and on current research, including the latest knowledge in the field regarding evidence-based practice. The team developing our intensive aphasia therapy program includes veteran SLPs Wendy Duke and Alisa Ferdinandi, who together have more than 40 years of experience working with clients with aphasia and who have trained numerous student SLPs over the years.

Q: Is the involvement of family members required?

A: You need to bring a family member or communication partner with you but they do not need to be with you throughout the entire month-long duration of the intensive aphasia therapy program. They need to be there for at least the first day (June 25th) and the last day (July 27th). Additional family involvement is encouraged. We recommend against having family members involved full-time, however, as we wish to foster independence for our clients.

Q: When should I register?

A: Before April 1st 2012 to ensure the early registration rate and as soon as possible to ensure that you obtain one of the six spots, which are allocated on a first-come first-served basis for eligible registrants. We are taking registration right now for the summer program. Please note that our program sold out by March 15th last year. To register, request an application package from us at info@columbiaspeech.com (please put “intensive aphasia treatment program” in the subject line) or by phone at 604-875-9100. Registration also requires payment of a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the fee (i.e. $8000) at the time of registration along with a postdated cheque for $8000 made out for May 15th, 2012, along with various reports and questionaires ( which are outlined in the application package). If space permits, we will accept latecomers (those registered after April 1st); however a late-registration payment of $1500 will apply.

Other Questions? If you have any other questions, please email us at info@columbiaspeech.com (please put “intensive aphasia treatment program" in the subject line) or phone us at 604-875-9100.

Click here to see an overview of our intensive aphasia treatment program.