tom SATHER

time, providing a space for those with aphasia to work on their communication abilities while also participating in the wider community. Among these activities is an annual aphasia camp at Camp Manitou near New Auburn, which is operated by a partnership between UWEC, Mayo, and the YMCA. The camp gives people with aphasia a chance to be around others who can understand their experiences.

“What people say is, ‘I don’t have to explain to people what aphasia is, I can just be myself,” he said.

Sather is also involved in a community gardening project that brings together UWEC students and faculty with people with a variety of communication needs, from youngsters working on speech sounds to members of the aphasia group, who gather at a plot in the Forest Street Community Garden on Fridays in the summer to plant, weed, and harvest as well as engage in authentic communication experiences.

If a stroke has a ected someone’s ability to have a conversation with people that they don’t know well, Sather noted, “What be er place to practice that than at the garden where somebody walks by and says, ‘Hey, what are you guys growing here?’”

Sather’s enthusiasm for fostering communication also led him to help bring a program called Reel Recovery to the Chippewa Valley last September. Reel Recovery is a nationwide nonpro t group for men with cancer of any stage and any form. It involves three-day y- sh- ing retreats featuring meals, camaraderie, and “Courageous Conversations” led by a trained facilitator. These conversations are especially meaningful for the men involved, who may otherwise be reluctant to talk about their feelings and experiences, Sather said.

“You can probably guess (that) the y shing is kind of secondary to the relationships, the conversations, and the interactions,” said Sather, who co-chaired the retreat, which paired 10 cancer survivors with 10 volunteer shing buddies.

There’s a common thread connecting Reel Recovery to Sather’s work with people living with aphasia.

“Part of this is the fundamental idea of being human: that you’re involved in meaningful, authentic experiences,” Sather said. “Whether you have aphasia, whether it’s cancer, whether there’s some other condition that might limit you otherwise, there’s opportunities to do that, and being mindful that it’s not tokenism. It’s not doing something out of sympathy. It’s doing something because it’s part of what a community is about.”

Sather said he feels fortunate to be part of these initiatives, adding that “I think that we have to keep our foot on the gas to keep them happening.”

“I think that we’re turning the corner from trying to be the xers and saying, ‘Hey, you have something that needs to be xed,’ to saying, ‘How do we all participate authentically in the community,’ and that’s exciting.”