Guides for families after a stroke
The things I wanted written down when my father had his stroke and nobody had time to explain them. Plain language, no jargon, and honest about where an app stops and a speech therapist starts.
Talking with someone in the first weeks after a stroke
Written for the person sitting in the chair beside the bed, who has just realized that talking is going to be different now.
6 min read
Why can't they find the word?
You can see they know it. It is right there. Here is what is actually happening in that pause.
5 min read
How to help someone find a word
For the family member sitting across the table while someone searches for a word, and not sure whether helping helps.
6 min read
Speech exercises to do at home
Six things you can actually do this afternoon, with nothing but a table and each other.
7 min read
How long should home speech practice be?
For families told that practice between therapy sessions matters, and not told how much.
5 min read
Aphasia, apraxia, dysarthria — what the words mean
For anyone who has just been handed a word by a clinician and would like to know what it actually describes.
6 min read
How long does aphasia recovery take?
The most searched question about aphasia, and the one no website should answer with a number.
5 min read
When you are the one doing all the talking
For the husband, wife, son or daughter who has quietly become the person who speaks for two.
6 min read
Free aphasia resources worth knowing about
What exists, what it costs, and which things are free in the way you hoped rather than free for fourteen days.
4 min read
Or start practicing
Reading about it only goes so far. Everything described in these guides has a free, playable version — no account, no download.
Written by Riley Nocek, who built NeuroSpark for his father after a stroke and rewrote it around what actually happened when they practiced together.
Not written or reviewed by a speech-language pathologist. These are practice activities, not medical treatment — if you are working with a speech therapist, show them anything here before you use it.