At A Loss For Words

This project explores the range of emotions experienced by people suffering from aphasia which is an impairment of the brain’s ability to produce or comprehend speech, and the ability to read and write. Most of these injuries to the brain are caused by a stroke. In most cases a person’s intellect remains intact and there is little outward appearance of a disability. Many people with aphasia suffer from a multitude of emotional reactions from essentially being trapped inside a brain capable of normal cognition, yet unable to fully communicate with the outside world. Emotional responses include fear, anger, frustration, extreme rage, sadness, depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. These reactions are not limited to aphasia but extend to many other injuries and illnesses.  It is these emotions that I am attempting to communicate through these images. 

The National Institutes of Health estimates that approximately one million Americans suffer from aphasia and it is present in about 38% of stroke survivors. Aphasia is as prevalent as Parkinson’s disease in the U.S. However, while Parkinson’s disease is well-known to the lay public, the awareness around aphasia is negligible. The uninformed public often mistake people with aphasia as mentally ill, drunk, on drugs, or hard of hearing, and subsequently treat them differently.  To prevent embarrassment, people with aphasia often try to hide their inability to speak or pronounce words. Imagine being pulled over by law enforcement and not being able to understand commands or communicate clearly.