The Resilient Mind The Speech Therapist Who Lost Her Voice - Vanessa Abraham
Sep 17, 2025
In this enlightening conversation, Vanessa Abraham, a licensed speech language pathologist and founder of A New Healing Therapy, shares her extraordinary journey from being a thriving professional to facing a life-threatening illness that rendered her unable to speak. She candidly discusses the emotional and psychological challenges of relearning communication while advocating for resilience through community support. Her inspiring memoir, 'Speechless,' reveals how personal connections and daily practices helped her navigate trauma and rediscover life's joys after such adversity.
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Sudden Paralysis Changed Everything
- Vanessa woke up after a week with flu-like symptoms to find a virus had paralyzed her brainstem and spinal cord.
- She was ventilated, unable to move except her eyes, and communicated with an eye-gaze device she had once made for a patient.
Communicating With Her Own Device
- Vanessa's husband brought an eye-gaze device she had made for another patient so she could spell using only her eyes.
- Later a passy-muir valve and intensive therapy gradually allowed her to vocalize again.
Extended ICU And Rehab Journey
- Vanessa spent over a month across two ICUs, then LTAC and rehab, totaling roughly two months in hospital care.
- She worked on swallowing, mobility, and everyday tasks before returning home with ongoing deficits.
