Finding My Words

"Michael's book of poetry is an act of courage and of beauty. In Finding My Voice, Michael uses poems to render the experience of living with aphasia with tenderness, frustration, and eloquence. Aphasia changes our relationship to words, as both Michael and I know all too well. And yet a changed relationship is not a broken one, just like a life redirected by a singular traumatic event is not a broken one. Michael epitomizes so beautifully finding purpose in hardship, and I'm so grateful for the gift of this unforgettable collection of poems." -Gabby Giffords, former Congresswoman

"Finding My Words is a gift to the world. Michael Obel-Omia's voice is so important; it is so hard to express oneself with Aphasia. I trembled with familiarity reading many of the poems. Anyone who wants to understand aphasia-whether you have it or not-should read this book." -Debra Meyerson, PhD. Professor, Stanford University; Author of Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke

"Finding My Words is an astonishing, humbling, extraordinary and stunning collection. It speaks to the resiliency of the human spirit and should be required reading for everyone involved with the aphasia community as well as anyone with an appreciation of poetry as a means of expression. Michael Obel-Omia immerses the reader into the vortex of aphasia, challenging, teaching, and inspiring us along the way as he sheds light on this little known and often misunderstood condition." -Jerome Kaplan, MA, CCC-SLP Speech-language pathologist