Published: 08 February 2008
Film highlights vital need for communication support after stroke
The release of the film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, highlights perfectly the vital role of speech & language therapy and communication support for the 150,000 people in the UK who are affected each year by stroke, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) says.
Director Julian Schnabel’s film portrays the story of magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a major stroke at the age of 43. This left him paralysed from head to toe, with his left eye the only functioning physical feature remaining (so-called 'locked-in syndrome').
Unable to communicate, Bauby’s speech and language therapist taught him to blink as she ran through the alphabet – helping him to present his thoughts to an outside world he could no longer reach in any other way.
Bauby used this painstaking method to blink out his memoir and describe what it was like not being able to move.
RCSLT Chief Executive Kamini Gadhok says stroke is the main cause of major disability in adults in the UK:
“Every year, an estimated 150,000 people have a stroke. Around a third of them are left with a communication disability.
Stroke causes a major impact on the quality of life of people of all ages and is an issue we cannot afford to ignore,”
At the end of 2007 the RCSLT carried out a groundbreaking nationwide survey of stroke survivors (with support from The Stroke Association, Help the Aged, Age Concern and Sue Ryder Care), asking them about the impact that communication disability has had on their quality of life.
The All Party Parliamentary Groups on Speech and Language Difficulties and Stroke will launch the survey results on 5 March.
The RCSLT will use the launch to highlight to Government ministers the essential role of speech and language therapy and communication support, and the way forward to support people after a stroke.
Further information
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly film Review - Times Online
Related articles
Review of Speech, Language and Communications
Launch of All Party Parliamentary Group on Speech and Language Difficulties
Stroke Strategy is Hard to Swallow
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