Rip it up ... and start again

Speech therapy transformed King George VI’s life. It was thanks to an Australian speech Rosetta Stone Spanish V3 therapist that he was able to overcome his stammer. The story of their relationship has now been made into a film, The King's Speech, which has been nominated for a handful of Golden Globes and is due to be released in the UK in January. King George, played by Colin Firth, was thrust into the limelight following his brother's shock abdication. The film charts how his speech therapist, played by Geoffrey Rush, helped him conquer his debilitating stutter to address the nation on the eve of war. The transformative power of speech therapy and the depth of the bond between patient and therapist is one to which Scottish singer Edwyn Collins can attest. Here, Collins and his speech and language therapist speak together for the first time. Collins almost died in 2005 when he suffered two massive brain haemorrhages within a week. He woke in a hospital bed to the terrifying discovery that he had been robbed of the power of speech, a condition known as aphasia. He was lucky to be alive; the morbidity of his condition is incredibly high and his recovery was blighted when he caught MRSA following an operation to his skull. Six months in hospital, I couldn't say anything, only yes', no' and Rosetta Stone English the possibilities are endless' over and over again,says Collins, who famously fronted the band Orange Juice before going solo. Does he remember the period after the brain haemorrhages? No, not clearly. I suppose I was quite tranquil and dozing a lot in hospital. For his partner and manager Grace Maxwell, however, his situation was all too real. Five weeks after he was admitted to hospital she was concerned that he wasn't yet receiving speech therapy. In a campaign launched this month called Giving Voice, the Royal College of Speech and Language therapists highlights the life-changing benefits of speech therapy and stresses the importance of early intervention. I went out on a quest to find somebody,says Maxwell. I was panic stricken about Edwyn's aphasia. It was complete and total. I was like a headless chicken. I had been told that there would be no assistance for his speech and language in hospital even though he was in a stroke unit. Sally Ghibaldan became Collins's speech and language therapist. When I first met Edwyn, from an understanding language point of view he was very good,recalls Ghibaldan. He followed day to day conversation incredibly well. Occasionally he would answer quite out of context so there may have still been some understanding problems going on. His speech was very hesitant. As an adult neuro-specialist, Ghibaldan works with a range of patients who have suddenly acquired a neurological problem from strokes and head injuries. She admits that Collins was different from other patients. He was a pretty unusual patient in the way he expressed himself,says Ghibaldan. Because he was a lyricist essentially, he used very Rosetta Stone Software unusual, beautiful words and would say things in a roundabout way. He was never direct and to-the-point. At first, his language appeared so simplistic and he'd suddenly come out with the most amazing words.