{"id":31679,"date":"2019-01-18T03:47:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T11:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=31679"},"modified":"2019-01-16T10:45:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T18:45:42","slug":"camp-for-those-with-aphasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/01\/18\/camp-for-those-with-aphasia\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp for those with aphasia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sea to Sky Aphasia Camp provides a\nthree-day retreat to 30 campers and their family members at Zajac Ranch in\nMission, B.C. (photo from Sea to Sky)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphasia is a communication impairment most\noften caused by stroke, but it can also be due to any brain injury. It impacts\na person\u2019s ability to speak, understand spoken language, and the ability to\nread and to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to understand that, while\ncommunication is impaired, a person\u2019s cognitive function is not,\u201d said Eavan\nSinden, a speech-language pathologist at the University of British Columbia,\nabout the condition. \u201cThis is something Sea to Sky [Aphasia] Camp focuses on \u2013\nthat we can create a communicably accessible and supportive environment, while\nacknowledging the inherent competence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, there are some prominent researchers in\nthe world of aphasia now who are looking at expanding on [the] definition …\nso that it would include the impact of aphasia on a person\u2019s life \u2013 the impact\nit has on a person\u2019s identity, on a person\u2019s ability to participate in social\nevents, their ability to work, their ability to be in the role that we assume\n… mom, dad, daughter, whatever … changing the definition a little bit to\ninclude that impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the 100,000 people in Canada who will\nsuffer a stroke this year, 35% of stroke survivors will live with some form of\naphasia. Further to that, 62% of these survivors will experience depression after\nthe stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinden teaches and does research at UBC\u2019s\nSchool of Audiology and Speech Sciences. One of her primary roles within the\nschool is to coordinate the Sea to Sky camp every September. This fall, it will\nrun Sept. 20-22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The camp, which is entering its 10th year,\nprovides a three-day retreat to 30 campers and their family members at Zajac\nRanch in Mission, B.C., in a facility specifically designed for people with\nunique abilities and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the camp a reality, Sinden and UBC\npartner with Douglas College\u2019s therapeutic recreation program, and March of\nDimes Canada. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of support for this camp,\u201d Sinden told the Independent<\/em>.\n\u201cIn addition to being a camp for people with aphasia, those 30 campers come\nwith family or friends, if they choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also have 36 healthcare-professional\nstudents who come for the weekend to learn a little bit more about what it\u2019s\nlike to live with a chronic impairment, such as aphasia. They are\nspeech-language pathology students, audiology students, therapeutic-recreation\nstudents, nursing, pharmacy, dental hygiene and physiotherapy \u2013 a whole range\nof care students who opt, every year, to do this. Without them, we wouldn\u2019t\nhave enough support. It\u2019s really great to have these layers of partnerships in the\ncommunity. They really help create that communicably accessible environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a group of clinical leads,\nhealthcare professionals in the community, who have been working with aphasia\nand who volunteer the weekend of the camp to work with the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A disturbing trend, according to Sinden, is\nthat aphasia is affecting younger and younger people. \u201cThis is the frightening\npart,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have people anywhere from 30 or 31 to their late 70s or\nearly 80s, a real range, but the majority are in their 50s and 60s. It\u2019s no\nlonger something you\u2019d think just happens to older people. The Heart and Stroke\nFoundation has written quite a few reports on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Sea to Sky, participants can do yoga,\nhorseback riding, cooking, singing, dancing, campfires, basketball, swimming,\narts and woodwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of our activities are run by people with\naphasia, as well, who have come to the camp for many years and are now leaders\nin that way,\u201d said Sinden. \u201cThe students also take a role in working on some of\nthose activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All accommodations and meals are included in\nthe $250 cost for the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really terrific way for people with\naphasia in the community to come together, socialize and be with people who\u2019ve\nbeen on similar journeys,\u201d said Sinden. \u201cAphasia can be very isolating, so it\ncan be incredibly powerful to meet people with whom you have a shared\nexperience, who you can see that idea of, \u2018OK, I can do this.\u2019 Maybe, if I\u2019m a\nlittle earlier on in my recovery and I see someone 10 years post doing\nsomething that I didn\u2019t think would be possible … that can open up\nopportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a great core group who come year after\nyear,\u201d she added. \u201cBut, I have to say, especially this year, we had quite a\nnumber of newcomers, which is exciting. We\u2019re always trying to extend our reach\nand support the community of people with aphasia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the number of people suffering from\naphasia has increased, the camp has been able to accommodate the demand \u2013 but\njust barely, due to space and funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate in that March of Dimes, UBC\nand Douglas College support us with grants, but every year we hope to still get\nthe funds,\u201d said Sinden. \u201cIt\u2019s never a sure thing. There\u2019s a huge need for more\ncommunity support. If we could take more campers or run more camps, we would\nalso be happy to do that and it\u2019s something on our wish list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, Sinden is starting a campaign called\nSponsor a Camper, asking donors to give $250 so someone can attend the camp.\nOther support is raised via the Stroke Recovery Association of British Columbia\nand Fraser Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, visit srabc.ca or\naphasia.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sea to Sky Aphasia Camp provides a three-day retreat to 30 campers and their family members at Zajac Ranch in Mission, B.C. (photo from Sea to Sky) Aphasia is a communication impairment most often caused by stroke, but it can also be due to any brain injury. It impacts a person\u2019s ability to speak, understand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8646,6422,1573,8647,2864],"class_list":["post-31679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-aphasia","tag-british-columbia","tag-camp","tag-eavan-sinden","tag-health"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}