Gabrielle Giffords is a US congresswoman. In January 2011 she was shot in the head in Arizona at a public meeting with her constituents, in what was reported to be a failed assassination attempt. The shooter was apprehended and remains in custody. Tragically, six people died in the shooting and a further thirteen individuals were injured.
Ms Giffords sustained a significant brain injury in the shooting. According to her Wikipedia page, the bullet penetrated the left side of her brain, entering at the front and exiting through the back. It was not reported to have penetrated her brain’s right hemisphere.
As the brain’s primary language centres are believed to be located in the left hemisphere, it was perhaps no surprise to hear that Ms Gifford’s language had been affected by her injury. The Guardian recently reported on her first television interview since her injury (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/15/gabrielle-giffords-return-congress-better?newsfeed=true), and discussed the impact of her injury on her speech and language skills.
While her comprehension, or ability to understand what is being said to her, is reported to be ‘near normal’, her expressive language appears to have been affected: “She spoke in a clear voice, but in halting phrases: “Pretty good … difficult … strong, strong, strong”, she replied to questions about how she was feeling and how she had fared over the 10 months since the shooting. When asked if she felt angry about what had happened to her, Giffords replied: “No, no, no. Life, life”.
Once recovered from the acute phase of her injury, Ms Giffords received intensive speech and language therapy at a rehabilitation unit, as well as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. By April, she was able to read and understand, and speak in short phrases. With more effort, she was able to produce more complex sentences. Ms Giffords is now recovering at home and is continuing to receive speech and language input there.
If you think that a family member or friend may benefit from speech and language therapy after a stroke or brain injury, Integrated Treatment Services could be of help. Contact us here: https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/enquiry
Sarah Bennington, November 2011
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. Integrated Treatment Services is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.
