Each year in Switzerland, around 5,000 new people have aphasia, according to the Neuchâtel aphasic group. A communication and language disorder which is most often triggered following a stroke, cerebral trauma, a tumor or a neurodegenerative disease and which can manifest in several ways: use of one word by another, deformation of words or telegraph language.
In Neuchâtel, the group of aphasics “Espace d’Evasion” has been campaigning for 30 years to visited this invisible and unknown handicap. With its Lafasi choir, the mutual aid group wishes to give the opportunity to the aphasic people “to escape”, explains Thérèse von Wyss, logopedist and coordinator of the choir.
“Symphony Neuronale”
Because music gives new life to people affected in their difficulties in expressing themselves. For Thérèse von Wyss, the practice of singing resonates like “a neuronal symphony”. The one who also sings underlines the effect of music on the brain: “When you sing, the two hemispheres of the brain are activated. This explains the skill for some aphasic people to sing when they have a lot of difficulty in speaking orally.
Monique, who has been singing within the Lafasi choir for several years, says: “I can’t speak so much to speak, but I like to sing in the head. For her, as for other aphasic people, song is a way to get rid of the difficulties in communicating. Lilou Baillod also sings at the choir. She explains that singing “Délie” and recalls the social character of the choir: “We feel comfortable because we all have the same problem. We try to explain something, but we can’t do it. »»
Music fluidifies the text
Standing, on the other side of the choir, Anne Rémond directs the voices. The singing professor and choirman underlines the importance of adapting the repertoire for aphasic people: “I have to pay attention to the text and the melody. The melody and the rhythm give words a certain ease. »The choir heads herself finds that music brings better ease to her choristers when singing the melody.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Neuchâtel Aphasic group, the Lafasi choir will perform on Sunday August 24 in the large Couvet hall. /LPH
