Problems

Russell was a brilliant scientist and entrepreneur before his stroke. His severe aphasia and apraxia left him unmotivated. He’d been largely just watching tv for months. He desperately wanted to go back to his old life and didn’t believe he could get better. He didn’t want to try if it wasn’t perfect.

His wife didn’t disclose his depression before he began intensive therapy. Typically, once a client like this sees that they can make progress and learn strategies to cope with their current life, their mood can improve. He stopped his psychotropic medication during the first week, thinking he would be ‘cured’ by the treatment. He began taking it again during the 4th week with significant speech benefits.

After extensive counseling during his treatment, he agreed to participate fully in the program. Daily goals helped him see his progress more frequently and easily. His treatment focused largely on speech production and compensatory strategies to help him feel more success more quickly.