PALS - People with Aphasia Laughing and Sharing

05/25/2026

Highlights from our Happy Campers Aphasia Camp Out!

05/24/2026

Still smiling from our first-ever Andy, Melissa, and PALS Happy Campers Aphasia Camp Out!!! Thank you to Andy and Mel for planning this terrific event!

05/19/2026

So grateful for this amazing team of aphasia group leaders! Thank you for all of the time and incredible energy that you devote to our members!!!

05/17/2026

The pups at Pima Animal Care Center got a special treat when we read to them this past week. One of the books we read from was Tom Cobb's Crazy Heart. We were so fortunate to spend time with Tom in our aphasia community prior to his passing. It is a beautiful thing to still have his words with us through his books.

05/16/2026

05/16/2026

Terrific day reading to the pups at Pima Animal Care Center! Congratulations to all of our readers in the ARFF (Aphasia Reading with Furry Friends) program, and a big THANK YOU to our amazing volunteers!!!

03/20/2026

Fantastic piece on KOLD News 13 about our ARFF (Aphasia Reading with Furry Friends) program at Pima Animal Care Center! Thanks Carsyn Currier TV for sharing our program with the community and highlighting our terrific members and leaders who are all working so hard together to rebuild their reading skills. Andy Ortiz and Melissa Howitt - you are rock stars!!!

01/11/2026

As we prepare to start our programs again this week, we share one final highlight from 2025. In November and December, we started in-person communication groups to complement our Zoom groups and ARFF program. It was so great to bring together old friends and new. On the final day, we talked about the holidays and celebrated together with music from Mark and Bill. As we start up our programs again this Tuesday, we look forward to a year filled with hope, progress, smiles, hugs, friendship... and a lot of laughter.

01/09/2026

Continuing with highlights from 2025, in the fall, our founder, Fabi, submitted a proposal to give a presentation about the ARFF (Aphasia Reading with Furry Friends) program to the international community of AphasiaAccess, and it was accepted! The presentation was very well-received. We hope to see similar programs starting up in communities around the world, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to share our experiences so that many others living with aphasia can benefit.

01/08/2026

Thanks to Mark McLemore at Arizona Public Media for his local coverage of our dear friend Gabby Giffords on the 15th anniversary of the shooting at the Safeway store in Tucson.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Dr. Fabi Hirsch-Kruse shares her pride over playing a part in Gabby Giffords' ongoing journey; and what Homicide Survivors Incorporated offers to a community in need..

01/08/2026

Sending lots of love and gratitude to aphasia advocate and dear friend Gabby Giffords today - 15 years after being shot. Thank you for continuing to be an inspiration to us all!

The former congresswoman and her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, reflect on their lives after she was shot at an event in her district in 2011.