Hansard

I thank Rona Mackay for bringing this debate to the chamber. As others have said, it is a historic first debate about the condition. I also welcome the visitors to the gallery, many of whom I met this afternoon. I want to give a special mention to Eileen Smith, who Rona Mackay mentioned, because we worked together almost 20 years ago. Eileen was a physiotherapist and, like many of our NHS staff, she gave her absolute all to support the clients we worked with, and it was a great privilege to work alongside her.

I thank all the visitors from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland for meeting me and for the opportunity to hear their stories and to gain an understanding of some of the difficulties that they and their loved ones face. The people we meet in this place often shape us, and I found this meet-up useful in helping me to discuss policy in this area, and it was also heart-warming to be able to meet people who are so passionate about the issues that they wish to raise with us as MSPs.

Of course, I had prepared a speech for this debate, but I think that it is probably far more beneficial to share some of the information that was shared with me earlier today. I will use some of the language and the words that people used with me.

What do sufferers and their families want? As with so many of our constituents, they are not asking for too much at all. They want the condition to be understood, for parliamentarians to find ways to encourage understanding and patience, as Emma Harper said, and to support training in our businesses, the public sector and the wider community. They want people to understand that individuals with aphasia are not stupid or unable but just need some time to find the words.

As others have said, aphasia is a language and speech disorder that happens when the language centres of the brain are damaged. It is a long-term and life-changing condition—that is what many people shared with me today. It is mostly a disorder of older adults, and stroke is the major cause of adult aphasia, but it can also arise from brain injury or neurological disease.

When I worked in the health service, much of my experience involved working with people experiencing degenerative neurological conditions. In that role, I understood the power of language, the need for people to be understood and how speech, language and communication are the cornerstone of many of our interactions as human beings. Language and communication are crucial because they are the foundation of learning, they are key to relationships and relationship building and they help us to understand the world around us, particularly the shared world. They enable us to share ideas, build connections, develop empathy and succeed in our lives, whether that is in education, at work or in our social lives.