June is #Aphasia Awareness Month, and as it comes to a close, we are officially announcing the kickoff of our Aphasia Games for Health project. Thread to follow. Please like and retweet to help spread awareness! @ARCaphasia #AphasiaGames4Health. 1/n 
2+ Million people in the US have #Aphasia, a language disorder caused by stroke and other brain injury. It can affect speaking, listening, reading & writing. Aphasia is isolating and affects #mentalhealth. Learn more from the @NatAphasiaAssoc here! aphasia.org/aphasia-faqs. 2/n
The problem: we know that with the right kind of practice and hard work, people with #aphasia can continue to slowly recover for years (and even decades!), but treatment covered by healthcare is unfortunately very limited and short-term. 3/n
The solution: provide effective long-term practice opportunities through #AphasiaGames4health! We are bringing together game designers, rehab researchers, and the aphasia community to design games that will help people with #Aphasia aphasia to continue to Improve and Connect! 4/n
We want to help the aphasia community (including friends and family!) fight social isolation and support long-term recovery. Therefore, we will be co-designing fun replayable language games that will let players continue to practice at their own level of #DesirableDifficulty. 5/n
This summer we are developing 3 prototype games with support from @Pitt_PInCh and @PittInnovates! We will be offering these prototypes for free (pdf downloads with instruction videos), and eventually as professional printed versions provided at cost.🙂 6/n
Why? We want to help jumpstart an #AphasiaGames4Health movement! Adapting and creating games that meet the long-term recovery and mental needs of the aphasia community. We will be sharing what we learn on our website as we go along! aphasiagamesforhealth.com. 7/n
Our website has training materials and resources for game designers, SLPs, the #aphasia community, and anyone interested in making transformational games for people with aphasia. Check them out! aphasiagamesforhealth.com/resources. 8/n
For our kickoff, @Littlejohnsband and a great team of @PittCSD and @cmudesign undergrads have adapted Metagame, with a free pdf here: aphasiagamesforhealth.com/games. Download and let us know what you think. Thanks to @localno12 for helping to support people with aphasia! 9/n
We're interested in general community input, and will be looking for playtesters. Join the #AphasiaGames4Health
community here! aphasiagamesforhealth.com/join-the-commu…. 10/n
community here! aphasiagamesforhealth.com/join-the-commu…. 10/n
That's all for now. Stay tuned as we introduce the members of our incredible over the next week! #AphasiaGames4Health. 11/n
@threadreaderapp unroll
