NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT Finding Their Voice Adler Aphasia Center Provides Community and Support

Adler Aphasia Center Provides Community and Support

By tara delorenzo

Looking to not only create a community for a niche group of Bergen County who are experiencing aphasia, the Adler Aphasia Center seeks to bring people together through their extensive programs that focus on education and support for both caregiver and patient. Aphasia, which affects more than 70,000 in New Jersey, is a language disorder that typically occurs after a stroke, which affects a person’s ability to speak, understand spoken language, read and write, impairing the ability to communicate. The Adler Aphasia Center, a nonprofit organization, was founded by Elaine and Mike Adler in Maywood, in 2003 after

Mike suffered a stroke and had aphasia as a result. The post-rehabilitation therapeutic center now has three locations: Maywood, Toms River and West Orange, with the Maywood location the largest. Their programs focus on helping all aspects of the disorder, including education. “The words of our mission statement are really what we’re all about – to enrich the lives of people with aphasia, not just their families, even though that’s what we say in our mission statement,” said CEO and President Naomi Gewirtz. “It’s their families and everyone they interact with and the general community, so when I say it’s everyone they’re interacting with, it’s really to better the lives of people with aphasia but also helping them to communicate better and helping them to have the tools and resources they need to be active members in their families and communities when they’re out shopping or just in the general community.”

The Adler Aphasia Center looks to go beyond traditional therapy with their services. The staff is made of primarily licensed speech language pathologists (SLPs) who focus on creativity and who work to research and come up with new, engaging activities for members. There’s also a focus on technology that the SLPs work to help navigate, like helping members with Zoom or with creating a newsletter. And in addition to the SLPs, there’s also the back-of-house operational staff and volunteers that help work with fundraisers and communication.

The center has a range of programs to address the different needs. In addition to virtual meetups, they offer to connect people, the Adler Aphasia Center offers communications groups, which help people connect and build confidence on a smaller scale than their full-service program.

Their full-service program is a more expansive approach, which focuses on regaining conversational skills and re-engagement. The goals are to help create a support system, develop friendships, and improve communication skills. This program works on a three-semester schedule to help foster education and growth for members.

“Between semesters, we provide aphasia education programming for new families and members joining the center,” Gewirtz said. “It’s mandatory for someone starting this weekly program. They’re coming in as a new class, essentially, so the members get to know each other, and the caregivers get to know each other. They’re learning communication tips and tools. It could be years since someone had their

stroke but it’s the first time someone has presented tools they can use at home, so that education is what we do between semesters. It’s good work.”

The program is really focused heavily on providing a community to those who are suffering with aphasia.

“We don’t provide traditional therapy where speech language pathologists have goals for each member and are doing one-on-one therapy,” Gewirtz said. “What we do is we provide different programs in a group setting, so we have communication groups where we pick a topic and use technology to enhance the conversation to get members talking and responding to each other and the material. And then we do things like art, we have public speaking. In the past, we had cooking too and we hope to bring that back sometime. We have a computer lab too. So, it’s all different types of groups with the emphasis on helping people to communicate.”

In terms of the art made, the Adler Aphasia Center has developed Something Special, a design studio and store in the center, where members meet to design and create products the store sells. Items include handmade jewelry, greeting cards, and keepsake boxes, and all sales support the activity, programs, and services for the center and go to a scholarship fund. For the crafts too, since aphasia can sometimes affect a person’s mobility, a volunteer works alongside the member too to help in the designs. Members also go to corporate offices for lobby sales of the Something Special products, or nearby corporate offices will come on-site for volunteer days.

“It’s great – you get this beautiful item and as the person uses it, they’re reminded about aphasia too,” Gewirtz said.

This and the interactions from the full-service group only further what Gewirtz sees as the best part of the program: the community.

“Our members come from all walks of life, professionally, financially – we have a diverse membership, but they’re all so patient and understanding with one another that it’s like they’re part of this family they didn’t want to be a part of but by nature of what happened there’s a compassion and understanding they have,” she said. “It’s a beautiful thing seeing not only how members interact with one another but caregivers who are there to talk and have a good time

and there for each other under the most difficult of times and want to be a resource for that other caregiver. They truly understand and empathize with each other.” As this nonprofit organization was founded by the Adlers, with Elaine as an advocate for not only her husband but for caretakers as well, the center is also committed to making sure caregivers remain a focus and are supported as well. Moving forward, Gewirtz hopes the center continues to grow. Although the pandemic created difficulties for the groups, they are growing and are hopeful they will continue to grow. Those with aphasia are an isolated group, so this center is there to help bring people together and create support for those who feel they aren’t as heard, said Gewirtz. “I think the importance of a center like Adler Aphasia Center is providing a community and sup-

Providing comfort and being available to its customers port system for a niche community in bustling Bergen and its community has been a Cornell Surgical hallCounty,” she said. “There are a lot of nonprofits in this mark since the company’s inception. John J. Shiffman wealthy county, which also has a lot of underserved began the business out of Union City in 1945 and communities, and it is a densely populated area that moved to West New York in 1948. Howard Shiffman, has this niche community of adults with aphasia who who became the company president and CEO in the may or may not know that what they have is aphasia, early 1960s following the death of his father, moved and we can provide hope and growth and community his operation to Bergenfield in 1995 following a 1993 and learning and their value as a person. These are fire that had destroyed much of his West New York adults who may have problems and challenges with showroom. communication, but these are adults that understand what you’re saying and have something to say. They’re While Howard Shiffman worked with his father, he just sometimes having a hard time getting the words wasn’t necessarily anticipating taking over the family out and who wouldn’t want to enrich someone’s life business when he headed off to Long Island University by providing a community that can help them be their in Brooklyn. He was studying to be a pharmacist – he best self.” received his license but never practiced – and played baseball for a bit. Once he began running the business, Information on how to become a member and the Adler Aphasia though, working in a pharmacy and playing ball – he Center can be found at said he could never hit a curveball anyway – were no adleraphasiacenter.org.longer an option. It wasn’t easy maintaining the business as a teenager, but Howard Shiffman survived and ultimately thrived though it took some time. He is retired now but still

their day-to-day lives. For historians, it’s a treasure trove.” pops into the office several days a week to lend a hand, offer advice and interact with customers. That treasure trove includes stories of the Marquis “My father died when I was 19,” he said. “My mother de Lafayette and James Madison spending time there Altogether it took Heidi, who works as a retail merchandise buyer for Burlingafter the Battle of Monmouth, which was one of the ton Stores, about a year to complete the book. was there as the eyes and ears of the company and it was a good, quality company. I commuted to school, first successful campaigns enjoyed by the colonial Spencer, who is now in remission, is a graduate of the University of Maryland but I was around every day. Municipalities, nursing army. Washington and his men “partied” according and works as an associate buyer for a clothing store, was fully supportive of her to Sullivan, before moving on.mother’s effort to share her story, Heidi said. homes, the public in general came to our aide and I just gave back to the people who helped and passed “I hope other families find comfort in this book,” said Heidi. “It’s what’s inside Sun Valley Farm, meanwhile, is on Rochambeau’s that really matters.” it forward.” Route, which is essentially Route 202. Count de Since its release, Heidi has donated copies to several non-profits that work to That approach of passing it forward is one that CorRochambeau led a pair of brigades from Suffern, help children facing hair loss while battling cancer, including Coming Up Rosies, N.Y. to Pompton in New Jersey as part of the jour-Sunrise Day Camp and Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center. nell Surgical continues to employ and not just a large scale. The individual means as much as the municney that would ultimately allow them to join WashIt has also received the endorsement of several medical professionals for its ington’s troops at the Battle of Yorktown. The farm uplifting message. ipality, the hospital or institution. Consider Diane Occidentale, a Bergenfield resident with Multiple remains the largest privately preserved farm in Ber“Cancer treatment, especially chemotherapy and radiation, has a profound effect Sclerosis. The 58-year-old has relied on Cornell to aid gen County. on each patient’s body image and no side effect has a more noticeable effect on in her care, thanks in large part to Jodi Silverman, how a patient looks than hair loss,” said Dr. David Loeb, Chief of the Pediatrics who is Adam Shiffman’s sister.The Hermitage and Sun Valley are part of a rich Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Montefiore Medical Center in the “When I first went there, I was very hesitant,” Occidentale said. “I didn’t know what to get but I wanted it to be pretty. Why do these things [walker, rollators history about which few people in Bergen County know. So, the next time you’re on Franklin Turnpike in Ho-Ho-Kus… Bronx. He also said, “This inspiring book addresses this issue head-on and it provides the powerful and supportive message that you can be awesome and beautiful and etc.] have to look like they should be in a hospital “Our job is to spread the word for The Hermitage,” full of love, even without hair.” Copies of “I Have No Hair and I Don’t Care” are available for $15.95 each at ALifeInZier said. “So, stop in and see what it is.” Print.com. ■

Pictured below: Courtesy of A Life In Print Continued on page 32