Aphasia advocacy and community education: speaking out! And beyond.

Speaking Out!, a unique co-sponsored national conference, was one of National Aphasia Association's (NAA) best-known efforts. Recognizing the need to serve a wider aphasia community, NAA partnered with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) Stroke Research and Training Center grant funded by the National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation (NIDRR) to conduct regional conferences modeled on the Speaking Out! proven framework. In June 2010, the first regional Speaking Out! conference was held in Washington, DC. Conference models will be outlined with history and goals; outcomes/lessons learned will be discussed. State-of-the-art features will be summarized with implications for people with aphasia moving forward with their lives.