“Toasting to A Life After Stroke”

In January 2024, Dan suffered a stroke while at work. He came to Level Eleven shortly after seeking help with his communication. When Dan first arrived for speech therapy, his communication was limited to very automatic phrases only. He had difficulty finding and producing words he wanted to say due to apraxia of speech and aphasia as a result of his stroke.

Apraxia of speech affects the motor planning and sequencing for speech movements and aphasia affects understanding and expressing language. Both are common communication disorders as the result of a stroke and often occur together.

Dan was very motivated to improve his communication. He has a large, supportive family and is very involved in his children and grandchildren’s lives. In fact, Dan had a big family event coming up as his daughter, Missy, was getting married. Dan gave toasts at his other daughter’s weddings, and he really wanted to be able to give a toast at Missy’s wedding.

Together with his speech therapist, Dan wrote down a short script for the toast; a strategy that often helps people with apraxia of speech and aphasia. In the weeks before the wedding, Dan diligently practiced the toast in therapy sessions and at home. Because of his hard work and strategies he learned in therapy, Dan was able to give a toast at his daughter’s wedding, with only a little help from family.

Dan continues to attend speech therapy to work on regaining his speech and language skills and continues to make improvements in his communication every day.