ABSTRACT
The work of the aphasia centre is much influenced by the social model of disability, but also by developments within therapeutic and theoretical approaches to aphasia. This chapter attempts to offer the person with aphasia a range of therapies, some of which directly address the impairment and some of which address their disability from a social model perspective. The chapter describes social model in detail, and utilizes it to summarise the range of therapies offered at the aphasia centre. People who have aphasia describe the dramatic and often traumatic nature of its onset, the sense of bewilderment and fear which loss of language engenders, its impact on their lives, families and work, their day-to-day struggles with interaction, conversation and communication, and the profound and often long-term adjustments which must be made. ‘Communication skills’ feature in every work appraisal and school report.
