It 麻豆精品 S檚 graduation day. But not for the students.

It 麻豆精品 S檚 a commencement ceremony for their patients. In this case, four adults with aphasia 麻豆精品 S� a communication disorder that can occur suddenly following a stroke or head injury but may also develop slowly from a brain tumor or a progressive neurological disease. June is Aphasia Awareness Month.

One of these four patients is Kyle Burke, a constantly smiling 25-year-old who seemingly knows everyone in the room.

He arrives at the ceremony in an orange Clemson University T-shirt. In May 2020, he was enrolled as a student and celebrating the completion of final exams and making the dean 麻豆精品 S檚 list when the pandemic brought him back home. It was there that a skateboarding accident would leave him with a traumatic brain injury and an inability to speak, write or understand language.

His family found the 麻豆精品 S� one of just a few of its kind in the country and known for its intensive and highly-personalized treatment.

麻豆精品 S淜yle 麻豆精品 S檚 a young guy and I just thought, ‘what a perfect environment,’ 麻豆精品 S� . 麻豆精品 S淭his is what he needs. He needs to be out with a bunch of people in a college environment. And he was excited. 麻豆精品 S�

In October of 2021, Burke began his first delivery of the six-week program at UCF.

On April 21, 2023, he 麻豆精品 S檚 completed the program for what marks his eighth and final time.

Thriving Through Therapy

麻豆精品 S淜yle came to us with severe expressive and receptive language deficits making understanding what people said to him in speech and in writing severely impaired, as well as being severely impaired in his ability to express himself, 麻豆精品 S� says Angela Ziegler, an instructor in communication sciences and disorders and licensed clinical aphasia educator. 麻豆精品 S淗e initially didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know many of the errors he made while trying to communicate because he couldn 麻豆精品 S檛 hear his own errors. 麻豆精品 S�

Burke 麻豆精品 S檚 treatment plan called for working on expressive and receptive language, making sure he could accurately understand what people say to him and easily formulate into words what he wants to say to others. His program consisted of individual therapy administered four hours a day, four days a week for six weeks. His therapists: a team of trained student clinicians 麻豆精品 S攁spiring speech language pathologists, operating under the close supervision of a faculty clinician and themselves approaching graduation from UCF.

Communication sciences and disorders graduate student Nathalie Espinal 麻豆精品 S�21 served as Burke 麻豆精品 S檚 clinician in the summer of 2022 and then again in the fall. She focused heavily on conversation-based therapy treatments.

麻豆精品 S淥riginally, he didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know any of his clinicians 麻豆精品 S� names, 麻豆精品 S� Espinal says. 麻豆精品 S淗e would recognize us, of course, and we had a relationship, but he had trouble with that recall. By the second semester, he knew all the names and was able to get our attention and engage in more verbal conversation. 麻豆精品 S�

By design, therapy was conducted in settings Burke would expect to be in naturally, like cooking, playing games and socializing with peers. Espinal coached Burke in Response Elaboration Training, or RET, a therapy technique that allows a patient to make a simple statement, and with a therapist 麻豆精品 S檚 assistance, expand on the original statement into something much richer and deeper.

麻豆精品 S淲e did a lot of therapy in open areas interacting with other people, 麻豆精品 S� Espinal says. 麻豆精品 S淗e would have a conversation and say a few words that were maybe not grammatically correct, but we would build on that sentence and add more details to it. 麻豆精品 S�

Progress was steady, says Espinal, who personally worked with Burke up to seven hours a week over a 12-week period and drew from common interests in therapy sessions.聽 Conversations covered movies, music and pop culture. Espinal also helped Burke improve his ability to use his phone to communicate with his friends.

麻豆精品 S淚nitially, I worked with him on some ways to help him with texting some friends, 麻豆精品 S� says Espinal. 麻豆精品 S淗e was using Snapchat a lot. We worked on spelling for texts and building his vocabulary on certain topics and areas of interest. 麻豆精品 S�

麻豆精品 S淚t genuinely felt like it was becoming a friendship, 麻豆精品 S� Espinal says. 麻豆精品 S淗e was so adamant about working. He would ask about my life and my family, and we definitely bonded a lot. 麻豆精品 S�

A Graduation Speech

The tradition at Aphasia House graduation is for the students to make speeches, sharing reflections on the progress of their clients and personal words of hope and encouragement.

On his graduation day, Burke also made a speech. He is the only one in his cohort of four to do so.

Since arriving, he has changed out of his Clemson T-shirt into a black polo shirt 麻豆精品 S� the same one worn by student clinicians. It 麻豆精品 S檚 a graduation gift and a souvenir of his time at the Aphasia House.

His parents look on. The room is silent.

麻豆精品 S淗i, I am Kyle. I have a brain injury. And I 麻豆精品 S檓 麻豆精品 S�.I 麻豆精品 S檓 麻豆精品 S�.phasia. I went to Clemson University, and I am from Greer, South Carolina. 麻豆精品 S�

His speech is slow and deliberate. He uses his finger as a guide along the words of the paper.

麻豆精品 S淚 love that Clemson won a bunch of football ACC championships. 麻豆精品 S�

The room erupts in laughter.

He goes on to discuss his time at the Aphasia House. At times pausing. Sometimes reversing words. But the communication is clear.

麻豆精品 S淚n the hospital, I cannot really speak or understand anything. Now I am 麻豆精品 San talk and understanding the news, sports and TVs. I can read and understand song lyrics. 麻豆精品 S�

麻豆精品 S淭he students and I play mini basketball together. Watching movies 麻豆精品 Seading 麻豆精品 Salking and listening to songs is fun. Also, we had community outings such as bowling. 麻豆精品 S�

He carefully acknowledges his parents, the students, their supervisors and 麻豆精品 S� ever playful 麻豆精品 S� his dog.

麻豆精品 S淭hank you for everyone helped me. 麻豆精品 S�

Burke 麻豆精品 S檚 graduation speech is four minutes long.

Moving Forward

Research has shown that people with aphasia have higher rates of recovery when therapy is intensive, and at the Aphasia House, therapy spaces are designed to evoke a sense of home and belonging. The rooms are themed to help remind patients of favorite things: a garden room, a music room, a game room, and a garage room. Patients, students and faculty gather together in a working kitchen and a cozy living room.

麻豆精品 S淥ur personal hope for Kyle is that he finds his way in this world that allows him to live well following a TBI and aphasia in whatever manner 麻豆精品 S榣iving well 麻豆精品 S� feels for him, 麻豆精品 S� Ziegler says.

Burke has set his sights on one day returning to school and driving a car.

麻豆精品 S淚 want him to feel independent and successful, 麻豆精品 S� Espinal says. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 so clear that he 麻豆精品 S檚 willing to put in so much work to get there. It 麻豆精品 S檚 only a matter of time before that ends up happening for him. 麻豆精品 S�