That the Parliament notes Aphasia Awareness Month, which takes place in June each year and aims to raise awareness about aphasia; further notes that aphasia is a language disorder, which affects one in three stroke survivors but can occur with other neurological conditions or head injuries; understands that it can affect speech production, understanding speech, reading and writing, and using numbers; further understands that the level of difficulty varies from person to person, and from mild to severe; recognises what it sees as the significant impact that aphasia can have on a person’s life, leading to feelings of isolation, loneliness and mental health issues; notes what it sees as the impact that aphasia has on a person’s relationships with family and friends, everyday social interactions and access to work or services, as well as the stigma and negative treatment that it believes can come with living with the condition; welcomes the ongoing work of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland to support people living with aphasia through resources and services; further welcomes Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s living well with aphasia course, which focuses on giving stroke survivors the information, skills and resources to live well with the condition, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government, NHS boards and other key organisations to be better informed about aphasia, increase access to speech and language therapy, and better understand the reality of living with this serious and potentially devastating health condition.
Supported by:
Jeremy Balfour, Colin Beattie, Miles Briggs, Tim Eagle, Annabelle Ewing, Kenneth Gibson, Dr Pam Gosal MBE, Emma Harper, Clare Haughey, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, John Mason (Registered interest)
, Stuart McMillan, Marie McNair, Edward Mountain, Audrey Nicoll, Kevin Stewart, David Torrance, Mercedes Villalba, Beatrice Wishart