I must thank Mayor Jeane Lepper and her staff for being such good hosts during our recent evening visit to her parlour.

All the members of the newly formed Sussex Aphasia Self Help Evening group (SASHeg) were made welcome and put at ease, always a great help to anyone with aphasia.

Aphasia is a language disability that affects people's ability to speak, understand, read, or write and usually results from a stroke or head injury.

SASHeg is the second self-help group in Brighton and Hove

connected to the national charity Speakability and is for people under retirement age whose lives and communication have been dramatically and suddenly changed.

It is, of course, a "double whammy" to have a whole host of difficulties - loss of job, loss of the use of one side of the body, loss of a car, loss of independence and loss of confidence - plus a loss of words to express how these make you feel and how to adjust to them.

The group members came away from their interview with Jeane pleased they had been able to talk about their difficulties and had been listened to.

We have been invited back to meet the new mayor in June for the launch of Speak About Aphasia Month 2004, which aims to raise awareness of this hidden communication handicap.

For more information, contact the Speakability helpline 080 8808 9572, or the Speech and Language Therapy Department at Brighton General Hospital on 01273 242075.

Val Farn

speech and language therapist,

-South Downs NHS Trust