Aphasia Community Center’s 5th Birthday!

Dear Friends, it's the Aphasia Community Center's 5th Birthday.  We hope you'll help us celebrate our first 5 years with a  donation of "5." Make it your kind of "5" by donating an amount with a "5" in it.  Your valuable donation helps us continue to provide services to the Aphasia community.  Helping the Aphasia Community Center is easy.  Visit our website to donate.

Sarasota is home to a dynamic aphasia community that includes persons with aphasia (PWA), co-survivors, speech-language pathologists, and other professionals, supporters, and friends.

History/Timeline

In March 2007, two families impacted by aphasia, the Boyles and the Lombards, formed the Suncoast Aphasia Support Group (SASG).  The SASG provides support, education, resources, and social events for individuals and families affected by aphasia.

In March of 2016, the Aphasia Reading Group with Dr. Jan Bisset was created.  This group provides a free group twice monthly.  Participants with aphasia gather to read aloud and discuss topics of interest to adults with aphasia.

In October of 2017, at an Aphasia Support Group picnic, members of the SASG discussed an aphasia center serving Sarasota and surrounding counties.  They envisioned an organization dedicated to improving and maintaining communication skills in persons with aphasia through social, recreational, and relevant functional activities within a supportive environment and enhancing quality of life.  The Aphasia Community Center (ACC) was founded on October 17, 2018, as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization to meet the needs of people with aphasia and their co-survivors.

Mission Statement

Empower people to communicate and live fully, positively, and independently.

Guiding Principles

1. Communication is essential to human life. Improvements in communication benefit persons with aphasia, co-survivors, and the community.  The Aphasia Community Center meets this guiding principle by offering classes and social events to improve and practice communication skills.  Members engage in functional group activities to enhance and maintain skills in writing, reading, spoken language, math, and related skills.

2. Peer encouragement and a positive attitude are potent tools. By recognizing improvements and each person's potential, everyone in the aphasia community benefits.  The Aphasia Community Center meets this guiding principle by constantly offering motivation and support to its members, spotlighting members and their successes in the monthly newsletter, and publicly recognizing members who have had fantastic success in communicating and living successfully with aphasia.  Group facilitators use aphasia-friendly materials and supportive techniques.

3. Shared resources and education prepare us for today and the future. The Aphasia Community Center meets this guiding principle by offering various classes, providing resources on their website and in the Center, and spotlighting resources in the monthly newsletter.

4. Aphasia awareness and outreach activities are essential communication opportunities for persons with aphasia to educate the community. The members and leaders of the Aphasia Community Center are dedicated to spreading information about aphasia.  We engage and educate individuals, local businesses, and organizations about aphasia through various aphasia awareness activities.  The ACC meets this guiding principle by participating in community events, being peer mentors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital to people who are newly diagnosed with aphasia, and participating in National Aphasia Awareness Month activities.  In June 2023, the ACC celebrated Aphasia Awareness Month by hosting an Aphasia Awareness Dinner.