Day#1 of Workshop: Meeting my Client

I was told that my client, M., was quite the character. Referred to as “the biker guy”, I had no idea what to expect walking into class that Wednesday afternoon. See, I didn’t know much else about him; M. was invited to join our workshop on short notice given that there are 12 students in our class rather than the expected 10 which would have evenly partnered every two students to one client.
When M. first walked into the room, I was struck by his nonchalant attitude and the way he proudly wore his sleeveless Hooters shirt on a day that could hardly be described as sunny. I listened intently during our introductions, trying pick up any sign of communication difficulty. However, he presented himself with a calm ease and at first I thought that there must have been some sort of a mistake when he was admitted. However, as Day#1 of the workshop unraveled so did the conundrum that was M.’s speech.
My client is fairly fluent, which explains my initial confusion, with moderate anomia. During lengthy conversation he finds himself grappling to find the right words. In one instance he was trying to explain to my partner and I that his daughter was in college and that she was studying to be a psychologist. Simple enough, right? Well, not quite. He had forgotten the word “psychologist”, so he proceeded to explain that she wanted to “work with crazy people like me”. M. knows what it is that he wants to say, his main difficulty is connecting his thoughts with the appropriate word.
There was one instance when we attempted to prompt M. to distinguish what colors he saw in a photo. He did not make any acknowledgement to what we were asking of him and it took several attempts to get his attention. He was lost in his thoughts and continued mumbling about some other aspect of the photo that seemed to fascinate him. We solved this problem by writing down the words green, red, etc. on a piece of paper and asking him to point to the color that he perceived as being most prominent in the photo. Based on this example, I assume that his capacity for auditory comprehension is mildly affected. However, if I was to see this person at Publix, for instance, I would think he were a competent individual.
I think that my UCF student is relatively new to working with a PWA. She began speaking far too quickly for my client to understand, to which one of the professors had made comment. By listening to the professors I was able to gauge the speed of my own voice.
I feel fortunate that I will get to work with M. over the course of this semester because his stroke occurred a few months ago, therefore my partner and I will get to witness his recovery take place in real time. I look forward to seeing what interesting photos he will produce for his first assignment.