Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 17, 2012

I hate seeing Leo struggle. He has made so much progress.

Can’t they just text?

Leo, it’s o.k. to just write stuff down in broken english, sometimes.U nd coax cbl?

Impediments to speech meet impediments to sobriety and the whole conversation is impeded.

I’d have to print it for him. He couldn’t read my writing.

Not a nice cartoon about a vet.

Unfortunately, most people equate the inability to speak with fluency with the inability to think with clarity. Just consider the two meanings of the word Dumb. In cases like Leo’s, does the difficulty extend to the written word? And what about sign language? Considering the difficulty we all have communicating in noisy environments, or as our hearing fades with age, I would think that it would be extremely useful to teach ASL (American Sign Language) to all children, and not just the deaf. It would probably prove more useful to the majority of students than high-school French.

Because of some of my meds and maybe also because of my Parkinson’s Disease, words will scroll in my brain, but they don’t come out right. Some people get very impatient with me and being who I am, I just look at them and say, “See how well you can talk when you have dementia a%%hole”."

@Doughfoot:ASL was an elective class in the high school I retired from. We had to drop it because kids were using that knowledge to carry on conversations and cheat on tests in the regular classrooms.

I sympathize with Leo’s aphasia and his frustration, while at the same time relating to Sherm’s hearing loss. To quote from Cool Hand Luke; " What we have here is a failure to communicate…"

I think I’ve been a speech therapist too long. I knew what Leo was trying to say in the first panel…..

Oh, and BTW, Linguist, that’s not aphasia…it’s called “stuttering” .

Have severe Tinnitus, after 35 years of studio recording…..

This looks like a rerun, seems familiar. Vets should probably be talked about more in the prez campaign as well, though they have been discussed to some degree. It is hard to believe how John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam vet was treated during his campaign, vs. Mitt, who supported the war (for others to fight), meanwhile he went to France instead of Vietnam. Wow. Imagine if a Democrat tried to do what Romney did and then ran for prez?

And before I am criticized for talking about politics, let me say this, you might not want to be involved with politics, but politics is involved with you. Also, if you have a brain, you have a point of view and you are allowed to express it in if you live in this country, especially in a comment section of a political cartoon.

injury induced speech impediment,, meet hearing loss. Mom calls it “noisy ears”

Leo had no trouble confronting the gun whacko’s in a restaurant when they went after Alex for a remark she made. In that instance he spoke fast and clear.

Mr. Pike,

Thank you for your service to our country. I’m in agreement with you that we should bring our soldiers home as the best way to show our support for them all.

Let’s see how GT lets this story unfold this week to get an idea of whether he’s treating Toggles challenges with the appropriate respect. I think it’s OK to show the difficulties vets face, when done well.

Peace.

@Keeper 98: when there’s a sudden intense emotional crisis or moment, other parts of a damaged brain can kick in. I knew a guy with damage just like Leo’s, and there was one day, just one day, when an intense situation made him able to tell me his story at last. I’d never known.

As for tinnitus and not being able to hear in a noisy environment, the earlier on you get hearing aids, the easier it is to relearn how to pick out specific sounds. Most hearing losses are in the high frequencies. Consonants are higher pitched than vowels, so then you only hear parts of every word and wonder why everything sounds so mumbly. Get hearing aids! The quality of what’s out there has improved markedly just in the last five years. They are worth every penny. I love mine.