Episode #42 - In Conversation with Tom Broussard

Dr. Katie Strong, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Central Michigan University talks with Dr. Thomas Broussard about broadening the importance of aphasia advocacy and awareness.

Thomas G. Broussard, Jr., Ph.D. is an awarded author, public speaker, and three-time stroke survivor. He was a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, naval officer, naval shipbuilder, and a business owner in career development and training. He received his Ph.D. at The Heller School at Brandeis University in 2006. His work was focused on helping people with a disability find work. Dr. Broussard was associate dean at The Heller School at Brandeis University until his stroke in 2011. He lost his language and could not read, write or speak well, but kept a 500-page diary using metaphorical drawings with text that didn't make any sense. He started his company, Stroke Educator, Inc. in 2015. He is conducting a national "Aim High for Aphasia" awareness campaign dedicated to educating people about aphasia, an impairment of language. This is the fourth year of the campaign and he has spoken in 24 states so far. Dr. Broussard has written three of the Stroke Diary series: Stroke Diary, A Primer for Aphasia Therapy (Vol I); The Secret of Aphasia Recovery (Vol II) and Stroke Diary, Just So Stories, How Aphasia Got Its Language Back (Vol III) which won the 2018 Gold Medalist Award for the President's Book Award from the Florida Authors and Publishers Awards.

In this episode you will:

• hear Tom's stroke story
• learn that awareness is its own modality
• learn about the Aim High for Aphasia campaign

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