Ted Baxter, Author and Stroke Survivor, Offers Encouragement To Those Struggling With Aphasia
Ted Baxter 'Relentless' Book Cover and Awards
Ted Baxter with his Dog
Turn one’s failures into triumphs and obstacles into opportunities.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA, November 30, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Recently, beloved actor, Bruce Willis announced his abandonment of acting due to being diagnosed with aphasia. Aphasia is a communication disorder caused by damage to the language areas of the brain. Whether caused by disease, stroke, or other brain injury, aphasia, even when it does not impair other cognitive functions, makes it challenging for persons afflicted by it to find the correct words to express themselves.
Ted Baxter, author of the book “Relentless: How a Massive Stroke Changed My Life for the Better” is one of those people. During 2005, in peak physical condition, Ted suffered a massive ischemic stroke that deprived parts of his brain of oxygen. He went from high performance businessman to a man doctors feared would not survive.
Eventually he started from ground zero and had to start relearning, physically and language, much of what he took for granted before. Ted says, “At the time that I experienced a massive stroke and I was diagnosed with aphasia, I went to the University of Michigan Aphasia (UMAP) program. I experienced the six week program of trying to learn English again. I was alone, like really alone. Without my wife, without my dog, in Ann Arbor, MI, where I hadn’t been before, and in the winter season (which was below zero) and nobody I could hang out with during the weekends. This situation forced me to learn new connections, new friends, and try to communicate as a person with aphasia. In the middle of the program, I decided that I was going to focus solely on getting back into society. I mustered everything I could from my determination and my will at least to try to do the things I did before I experienced my stroke.”
His message for everyone struggling with aphasia - or trying to beat any other medical issue like a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or another disorder: “Please listen. You can turn your failures into triumphs and obstacles into opportunities. Each and every failure and action that you take, gives you a way to improve….it’s teaching you something…so listen.”
He continues: “Being I am one of the 2.4 million people that has aphasia living in the US, I could attest that doing the simplest things of your daily life is hard, difficult and humbling. But that doesn’t mean you should lose hope or your life now has come to an end. You shouldn’t stop trying to get up on the stage and speaking to an audience. You shouldn’t stop trying to be a great writer publishing in newspapers and magazines. You shouldn’t stop trying to speak to radio announcers or interviewers to share your story with audiences. And definitely, you shouldn’t stop from trying to form a business that collaborates with great doctors, speech language pathologists, and investors that focuses on helping people that need it.”
For more on Ted, his journey, and the encouragement he offers those struggling with aphasia, please go to:
Aurora DeRose
Boundless Media Inc.
+1 951-870-0099
email us here
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