'Finding My Voice with Aphasia' is Released

What disease affects about one million Americans and is more common than Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy? According to Stoke.org, stroke induced aphasia is the culprit, and with more than 100,000 Americans acquiring the disorder of communication each year, one author asks, how many people have actually heard of it?

Aiming to spark awareness of the language impairments caused by the disorder, Finding My Voice with Aphasia begins when Carol M. Maloney, a veteran teacher, suffers a TIA/stroke. This story reveals the disabling effects of losing the ability of speech, writing and reading, due to aphasia. Faced with a fourth grade cognitive level and a divorce from her love of teaching, this book inspires others to overcome their own adversities one day at a time.

"Before my stroke, I worked with inner-city schools and developed a system that helped 97% of students pass their state literacy exam," says Maloney. "After my stroke, I felt like one of my students; I had to completely re-learn how to read, remember and write. Though I am still working on regaining all my communication skills, my journey shows how perseverance can pay off."

Through sharing her own vulnerabilities, this teacher aims to create awareness around aphasia by providing new insight into the mind of special needs students, as well as new teaching strategies.

"It is obvious throughout my stories that teaching has always been the love of my life," says Maloney. "After attending rehab three times a week for speech, cognitive, writing and reading rehabilitation, I developed my own way of learning and remembering, a way that I believe will be most effect for others with special needs."

From stroke patients, to caregivers, to teachers, Finding My Voice with Aphasia provides a valuable insight of how to heal and care for those with special needs.

Finding My Voice with Aphasia: walking through aphasia
By Carol M. Maloney
ISBN: 978-1-4759-8669-3
Pages: 239
Price: $10.95
Available at http://www.iuniverse.com, http://www.amazon.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com.

About the author
Carol M. Maloney is a Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History alumni and attended Columbia University in New York, in 2003. She has a Master's degree in education and a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in adolescent reading and literacy from Rivier University in Nashua, NH. She currently lives in Massachusetts.

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