Hi Everyone!
My name is Courtney, and I am one of the Buffalo State student clinicians for the Summer 2019 Intensive Aphasia Clinic. I am looking forward to working with you all this summer in group therapy! I just wanted to briefly introduce myself and share links to an interesting aphasia story I recently learned about.
About me: I grew up in Rochester, NY. My parents and my younger brother, Jacob, still live in Rochester. My younger sister, Emily, lives in Chicago. I earned a B.S. in Child and Family Psychology from John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH. Then, I was a full time AmeriCorps Volunteer for one year in Spokane, WA at an organization called L’Arche. Now, I live in Buffalo and have one more year of schooling before I will graduate with my M.S.Ed. in Speech Language Pathology (Woohoo!). I have a small, gray, cat named Margo. In summer, I like to kayak and go camping with my friends. In winter, I like to downhill ski with my brother. My all time favorite TV show is Game of Thrones.
In March, Emilia Clarke (one of the main characters in Game of Thrones), publicly shared her personal experiences with brain injury and aphasia. While filming for the show, she experienced two separate brain aneurysms and hemorrhages. In her interview, she talks about the aphasia she experienced while she was in the hospital. Thankfully, her aphasia recovered fairly quickly and she was able to return to her acting career before they began filming the next season. You can read her full interview here: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/emilia-clarke-a-battle-for-my-life-brain-aneurysm-surgery-game-of-thrones
Emilia Clarke has since founded an charity called SameYou. They are working to increase access to rehabilitation services for people who have had a brain injury or stroke. Check it out here: https://www.sameyou.org/
SPOILER ALERT: This is many seasons later in Game of Thrones (she is one of the few characters who makes it this far in the series!)
Buffalo State Stroke and Hope Aphasia Support Group 