Richard and Leon (with support from Katie B and forward by Maura S)
In every family tree, there are individuals who serve as the roots,…those individuals who because of their place in the family have helped build it’s legacy. They encourage growth and support the foundation by just living their lives and sharing triumphs and challenges of lives with Aphasia. I have known the two men in this story for many years. Richard suffered his initial stroke in 1999. Returning to Duke as a endeared professor, self-determined and committed to recovery of his speech even after a second stroke took so much of his speech away. Richard also believed in TAP…knew what we were trying to do in connection with the community and has maintained an active role in a variety of the TAP groups every week. Moreover, he serves as a welcoming and inspirational cohort to his friends here at TAP who share the understanding of aphasia’s impact on a person’s life.
TAP’s group is Croasdaile also includes Leon, another “longtimer” with TAP. Leon was one of the first TAP clients served and he and his family have embraced the programming throughout the years. His contagious smile and genuine love of connection provides any TAP groups with a positive light.
With challenges in speech and word finding, Katie B (one of our awesome Group Leaders) offered Richard and Leon an opportunity to contribute to the 12 Days of TAP by generating a “word cloud” with all the thoughts/ideas/associations that spoke to them about TAP Unlimited. This WordCloud submission is one of my favorites because of its creativity and spot-on identification of our mission. Thanks Richard, Leon and Katie!