ACA NEWS
We're always up to something! Check out our most recent adventures here.
Fifth Annual Independence After Stroke Fundraiser Dinner
How has it already been five years?! We had a blast at our FIFTH annual fundraiser dinner at Cafe Sydnie Mae! Once again our aphasia community made this a a sold-out event supported by 11 sponsors and 17 door prize donors. We were also thrilled to officially recognize Brianna Burns-Meaux as the recipient of our 2026 Clark Robin Memorial Scholarship. What a fun night!
CAPABLE Peer Befriending Training
Our first group of peer befrienders has completed training! This group of people with aphasia will begin CAPABLE, our peer befriending program for residents with aphasia in nursing homes, in August 2026. We are so proud of their hard work!
Clinical Aphasiology Conference 2026 in Pittsburgh
We spent an incredible few days in Pittsburgh at CAC 2026! We connected with new and old friends and immersed ourselves in groundbreaking aphasia research. Dr. Warren Brown presented a platform presentation on his anthology work with the Black Aphasia Group, Mary McMahon presented a poster presentation on the TEXT-A, and Maria Mengis presented her dissertation research as an RSCA Clinical Fellow!
Introducing Dr. Ashley Kidd, PhD, CCC-SLP!
Our fearless VP of Finance and UL Clinic Director Ashley Kidd graduated with her PhD in May 2026! Her dissertation focused on mental health services for people with aphasia. She is going to change the world! Go Dr. Kidd!
ACA 4th Annual Crawfish Boil
SO. MUCH. CRAWFISH!! We boiled 14 sacks (!!!) of locally donated crawfish and had a great time with our aphasia family. Thanks to all of our crawfish donors for their generosity!
Uncorking Connection Wine Tasting 2026
Our first ever wine tasting went off without a hitch! MySomm Boutique Wine Cellar hosted us for a lovely night of wine, refreshments, and aphasia community. We raised $3300 for ACA and had a great time while doing it!
ASHA 2025 in Washington DC
We had a wonderful time at our national conference, ASHA, in November! Washington DC welcomed us with open arms. We especially loved spending time with UL Lafayette alumni!
IALP 2025 in Malta
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We traveled all the way to Malta for IALP 2025, an international conference with a delegation to the World Health Organization. We presented our research on quality of life, mental health counseling, and texting with aphasia. It was an honor to attend this conference with acclaimed speakers from all over the world.
Stuller Grants for Mental Health Counseling
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The Aphasia Center of Acadiana has been hard at work trying to increase access to mental health services (counseling) for people with aphasia. We have been working with two licensed professional counselors in the area to train them on accessible communication for people with aphasia to increase meaningful mental health services, Elizabeth DeVargus, MS, PLPC and Becca Bowers, MS, LPC.
We are also thrilled to announce that the The Stuller Family Foundation has given us 2 different grants to help support the cost of these services to people with aphasia who are in need. We also will partner with UL Lafayette’s Speech, Language and Hearing Center and UL Lafayette Communicative Disorders Department to provide some of these services at their clinic.
If you are interested in these services (or know someone who would benefit), please let us know and we can get you in contact with one of these trained counselors. If you also need financial assistance for these services, please let us know!
We are also thrilled to announce that the The Stuller Family Foundation has given us 2 different grants to help support the cost of these services to people with aphasia who are in need. We also will partner with UL Lafayette’s Speech, Language and Hearing Center and UL Lafayette Communicative Disorders Department to provide some of these services at their clinic.
If you are interested in these services (or know someone who would benefit), please let us know and we can get you in contact with one of these trained counselors. If you also need financial assistance for these services, please let us know!
4th Annual Independence After Stroke Fundraiser Dinner
A fabulous time was had by all at the 4th Annual Independence After Stroke Fundraiser Dinner! Thank you as always to Cafe Sydnie Mae for hosting us!
Aphasia Access 2025 in Pittsburgh, PA
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ACA took on Pittsburgh for Aphasia Access National Summit! We presented several talks and posters on aphasia and quality of life, texting with aphasia, and the anthologies created by the Black Aphasia Group. Dr. Jamie gave a wonderful keynote presentation to round everything out.
We were so happy to have two of our Research Advisory Board members travel to the conference with us: Rose Shuff and Patricia Ledet. Rose presented a short talk on Out and About Groups with Maria Mengis. Patricia presented a poster on the work of the Black Aphasia Group with Dr. Warren Brown. We also brought a number of undergraduate research assistants from our research lab along to co-present their work on texting with aphasia. A fun and educational time was had by all!
We were so happy to have two of our Research Advisory Board members travel to the conference with us: Rose Shuff and Patricia Ledet. Rose presented a short talk on Out and About Groups with Maria Mengis. Patricia presented a poster on the work of the Black Aphasia Group with Dr. Warren Brown. We also brought a number of undergraduate research assistants from our research lab along to co-present their work on texting with aphasia. A fun and educational time was had by all!
Undergraduate Research Assistants Pass Training
Congratulations to our research assistants here at UL Lafayette and our colleagues at James Madison University. They have been working hard over the last few weeks learning how to code text messages written by people with aphasia.
The statistics are in! They passed the training and now they will be scoring the sample for the actual study.
The study will determine if the scale developed to test texting success in aphasia is ready to be used in clinical practice. This will help clinicians have a tool to measure change if they want to help people with aphasia improve texting.
The statistics are in! They passed the training and now they will be scoring the sample for the actual study.
The study will determine if the scale developed to test texting success in aphasia is ready to be used in clinical practice. This will help clinicians have a tool to measure change if they want to help people with aphasia improve texting.
Just when you thought we couldn't get any cooler...we're on TV and radio!
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96.5 KPEL's Brandon Comeaux's interview with our VP of Finance, Ashley Kidd.
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