Story to Educate Church Members About Aphasia
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By: Mrs. Carolina Ulloa
Mrs. Carolina Ulloa, who is bilingual in Spanish and English, is a 33 year old stroke survivor from Bogota, Colombia. Mrs. Ulloa’s primary language is Spanish. She first learned English when she was a young child.
She later received intensive training in English while living in Canada. Then she began college in the United States. Mrs. Ulloa is proficient in both Spanish and English. She received a lot of education in the United States, including doctoral training in Biology. Her doctoral work was at the University of Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York. Her doctoral research involved studying the temperature of frogs. Mrs. Ulloa has completed all requirements for the doctoral degree in Biology except for the dissertation. Her doctoral work was interrupted by a stroke.
During January 2010, Mrs. Ulloa married Mr. Mark Sandfoss. (English is the first language for Mr. Sandfoss, who also speaks Spanish fluently.) Shortly after their honeymoon in Colombia, Mrs. Ulloa had a brain aneurysm that ruptured. The ruptured aneurysm occurred on January 20, 2010. Mrs. Ulloa was diagnosed with aphasia at that time. Mrs. Ulloa remained in Colombia for approximately three years after the aneurysm. She has recently relocated to the United States with her husband, Mr. Mark Sandfoss.
Mrs. Ulloa now lives with her husband and in-laws in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky. She has lived in Kentucky for the past three months (since May 2013). Mrs. Ulloa has been enrolled in treatment with Dr. Gloriajean Wallace and Ms. Lindsey Bucher at the University of Cincinnati Speech and Hearing Clinic for the past two months. She has made tremendous strides in her English speaking skills in this short time. Her progress is due to treatment that was targeted to her needs in a personalized manner; Mrs. Ulloa’s efforts to immerse herself in opportunities to communicate in English with her family, friends, and aphasia support groups; and her dedication to switch communication completely to English. One of her goals was to educate the community about aphasia. She wanted to do this by giving a formal presentation about her stroke experience. On July 25, Mrs. Ulloa gave that presentation and received a standing ovation from her audience. We are providing you with an opportunity to enjoy Mrs. Ulloa’s very inspirational story by viewing the video.
