OK, I'm not a country music fan. In fact, I can't tolerate most of it and almost break my fingers pushing the radio buttons if I hear the first twang or CW star garbling one syllable words into mult-syllable yodels about heartache. Nevertheless, I've been thinking of Willy Nelson's "On the Road Again" a lot because the past four weeks, I've been out of town almost full time. I'm sitting in LAX this afternoon waiting for my plane back to Boise, and I'm so eager to see Heather and Ethan. His phone conversations keep progressing in maturity and content, and last night he asked "you coming home tomorrow, Daddy?" This morning, evidently thinking I can see through the phone, Ethan said, "You've been gone this many days Daddy" meaning he was holding up all 10 fingers (though I've only been gone four days). He'll run to greet me tonight at the airport, jump into my arms, hug me, hang on me, stare at me for a couple minutes, and then call me "Smarty Pants." And then, secure I'm home, he'll squirm out of my arms and run to baggage claim. I can hardly wait.
This morning, from 10:30 to Noon, at St. Lukes in Meridian Idaho, I participated in the “Aphasia, Apraxia, and Dysarthria Support Group” started a year ago through Idaho State University. We meet weekly. So, what is wrong with us? Aphasia is the name given to a collection of language disorders caused by damage to the brain. A requirement for a diagnosis of aphasia is that, prior to the illness or injury, the person's language skills were normal. The difficulties of people with aphasia can range from occasional trouble finding words to losing the ability to speak, read, or write, but does not affect intelligence. This also affects visual language such as sign language . The term "aphasia" implies a problem with one or more functions that are essential and specific to language function. It is not usually used when the language problem is a result of a more peripheral motor or sensory difficulty, such as paralysis affecting the speech muscles or a general hear...
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