I am excited to welcome you to our first newsletter for Friends of Aphasia! As we all find ourselves in very challenging times, I hope this newsletter can provide a few moments of respite and reflection, and maybe even a little bit of encouragement and optimism.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold this spring, we immediately closed our doors at the Aphasia Center of Tucson to ensure the safety of our members, volunteers, students, and staff. Within weeks, we transitioned from in-person aphasia groups to online groups via Zoom. Fortunately, most of our members were able to join us in embarking on this new adventure, and I think we have all been surprised by how well online sessions have allowed us to continue to work on communication skills and to maintain our tight-knit community.

It turns out that smiles and laughter are almost as good online as they are in person! 

Although the pandemic has brought much stress and strain, we have found a few silver linings. Through online programming, we are now able to provide services to people who have traditionally not been able to join us due to health, mobility, or transportation issues. We are also able to reach people who live far from our Aphasia Center, from rural Arizona to across the country! As we plan for a gradual and safe return to in-person services, we aim to continue to provide online aphasia programs so that anyone, regardless of whether or not they are fortunate enough to live close to an aphasia center, can benefit from high-quality aphasia services. Over the past several months, our online aphasia groups have grown, both in number of participants and in types of groups we offer. We started with structured conversation groups and have now added some specialty groups – TED Talks Group, Virtual Tours Group – as well as a Special Speaker Series. In addition to our groups, we have continued to work on our Community-based Aphasia Support Team (CAST) program. Find out more about this innovative treatment program in the CAST article in this newsletter.

When I look back at the year so far, I certainly recall moments of anxiety and stress, but moments of excitement and celebration also shine through. After years with only one clinician (me!), we hired a part-time Speech-Language Pathologist early in the year to expand our clinical work. Izzy, a new grad who is currently completing her clinical fellowship with us, has been a tremendous addition to Friends of Aphasia. We hope to expand her position to full-time.

Another highlight was being awarded the Diane Lynne Anderson Memorial Award from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona. Although the award was officially presented to me, I felt that it recognized and honored all of the individuals living daily with the struggles of aphasia, and it helped us take a big step towards increasing aphasia awareness in our community.

We are fortunate to continue to have a wonderful team of volunteers and students. Toni (a student from the University of Edinburgh) and Harley (a volunteer) share their experiences from their time at the Aphasia Center of Tucson in this newsletter. Finally, I continue to feel so incredibly lucky to be able to work with our group members and their families.

I’m not sure how many people wake up on Monday morning excited to start a new week, but that is where I find myself each Monday, eager to start our aphasia groups, to see a screen full of smiling faces, and to share in our members’ journey of aphasia recovery.

As I conclude, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that our resilience during this difficult year would not have been possible without the support of our donors. Thank you for your trust in what we do. 

To end, as we wrapped up this newsletter, we learned of the loss of our dear friend and long-time group member, Manny. Our sadness is beyond words.

Fabi Hirsch Kruse, PhD, CCC-SLP
CEO, Director of Clinical Services