After a stroke
When the words no longer come out, or come out wrong, the person is still there, whole. This page says what a communication board can bring to everyday exchanges, and what it does not replace.
Words Within Reach is not a medical device, not medical advice, and not a rehabilitation tool. The management of aphasia rests with a speech and language therapist and with the team following the person. This site is an everyday communication aid, nothing more and nothing less.
What this is about
Aphasia is a language disorder that can appear after a stroke. It affects the production of words, their comprehension, reading or writing, to degrees that vary widely from one person to another. A meta-analysis published in 2024 reports an overall prevalence of aphasia after stroke of 34%. It is therefore neither rare nor marginal.
The first thing to hold on to: difficulty finding words is not a loss of intelligence, memory or judgement. The way the person is addressed should stay that of one adult speaking to another adult.
What a board brings to daily life
- Saying what is urgent without having to find the word: it hurts, drink, cold, toilet, tired, help.
- Pointing to a person by their photograph when their name will not come.
- Moving beyond closed questions. Answering yes or no to what those around guess at does not allow a person to say what nobody thought to ask.
- Keeping hold of the conversation: it is the person who points, not those around them who assume.
- An aid that does not require reading: every cell carries a picture, with its word written below for those who still read.
What helps, in the room
- Allow time. The silence after a question is not a refusal: it is often a word on its way.
- Leaving the board visible and within reach, at all times. A board kept in a drawer is no use to anyone.
- Using it yourself while speaking, to show what it is for without demanding anything.
- Accept the messages that are unwelcome: stop, refuse, protest. A tool that only lets a person be polite is not a communication tool.
- Adding the words of this person: the people close to them, their habits, their places, their food. They cannot be invented on their behalf. See my boards.
The page supporting without speaking for the person sets out these points for families and professionals alike.
What this site does not do
- It diagnoses nothing and assesses no one. No score, no assessment, no progress tracking, and nothing sent anywhere.
- It does not replace speech and language therapy, whose goals and exercises are decided with a professional who knows the person.
- It prescribes no equipment and recommends no device for an individual case.
- It promises no improvement. What it offers is a way of being understood today.
Where to start
The ready-made boards cover the most common situations, and the same twelve cells are always in the same place: the position of the words does not change from one board to another, so that the movement becomes automatic. Print the one that is most useful, keep it on the table, and add the missing words as the days go by.
Sources
- Meta-analysis and systematic review of the relationship between sex and the risk or incidence of poststroke aphasia and its types, 2024, open access on PubMed Central: overall prevalence of aphasia after stroke of 34%.
- Diagnosing and managing post-stroke aphasia, a clinical review, open access on PubMed Central.
- Assistive technology, World Health Organization fact sheet.
- How it works: the design choices behind the tool, and what research says about augmentative and alternative communication.