NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A group is working to give the community a better understanding of a language disorder. They're also spreading the word about an option for people living with it to find a community of friends.
"Who here likes to act?" Kathy Pearson asked, looking out over a group.
Her son, Alex, quickly raised his hand.
"I knew it!" Kathy laughed. "Yes! Alex is our actor!"
"You see it?" she asked Alex, showing him a word on a card. "Don't tell them that word."
Alex began to act out the word.
"Violin!" someone shouted.
It was a game of charades for a crew who meets up twice a week. Kathy sees to it this crew's always getting to do something different when they get together. Charades is always a winner.
It was ten years ago when Alex's life changed. He was 15.
"What'd you have?" Kathy asked Alex.
"A stroke," he answered.
"Has it been challenging to recover?"
"Yes."
In fact, everybody who made up this group was living with aphasia or is a family member.
"Aphasia is a language disorder," said Kathy. "It typically happens because of a brain injury or stroke or sometimes its onset because of dementia. Because you have aphasia doesn't mean you have less intelligence. It just means you have a difficulty in getting your voice heard."
"When [Alex] went through a stroke, he wasn't able to do pretty much anything," she continued. "Speaking was difficult, just to say hello."
Alex has come a long way since the stroke at 15. Still, Kathy said living with aphasia can be isolating. That's why there's this; Healing Heads Aphasia Center.
Today, they meet on Mondays at Cross Point Church in Nashville and on Wednesdays at FiftyForward Donelson Station. Ultimately, they're wanting to open their own facility.
"If you have aphasia, practicing talking with others helps the whole development of the brain still," Kathy said.
"Having this group of friends, what has this meant to you?" I asked Alex.
"It's good," he answered.
"I love it," Kathy continued. "We get to meet people and enjoy each other's differences. It shouldn't isolate us. It just makes us different. This journey has been life changing, life altering, but it's through the difficult things our faith grows. We'll get through it together. We need people in our lives to do life with. We're just here to encourage each other and lift each other up and just love each other."
For more on Healing Heads Aphasia Center, visit here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
This is a beautiful story of chosen family, proving a father figure doesn't have to have biology in common to make a difference in a child's life. The story of De'Andre and Alex will remind you that our relationships help determine the course of our lives. And that being supportive of someone - through a meal, a shared experience or even swim lessons can make all the difference.
- Rebecca Schleicher
