Imagine losing, in an instant, your ability to communicate.  Imagine struggling to say your own name, to write a simple email, or to read the newspaper.  These are realities for individuals living with aphasia.

Friends of Aphasia, a Tucson-based nonprofit cofounded by Gabby Giffords and her Speech-Language Pathologist Dr. Fabi Hirsch Kruse, is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families living with aphasia through comprehensive aphasia services, community education, and innovative treatment research.

We are excited to ride in El Tour de Tucson again this year! We hope you will consider riding for Friends of Aphasia. The most important thing for us is that you go out and have a great ride. If you would also like to fundraise for us, that would be fantastic! For more information about our team or our nonprofit work, please reach out to us at [email protected]. 

If you are like most people, you’ve probably never heard of aphasia. Aphasia is a communication disorder that robs individuals of their ability to speak, understand, read, and/or write.  Typically, it results from a stroke, but it can also be caused by a traumatic brain injury, a brain tumor, a brain infection, or brain degeneration. And despite limited awareness among the general population, aphasia is far from rare; it affects over two million Americans, and that number is expected to grow as our population ages and as medical advances increasingly save the lives of individuals who sustain a brain injury.

Friends of Aphasia, a Tucson-based nonprofit cofounded by Gabby Giffords and her Speech-Language Pathologist Dr. Fabi Hirsch Kruse, is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families living with aphasia through comprehensive aphasia services, community education, and innovative treatment research.