SUNDAY,APRIL 3 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE A
trainedothershowto make
bombcomponents,accordingto
a2013reportinthe Wall Street
Journal.
U.S. officialsdeterminedin
2016 thatBarhoumi’scontinued
detention“wasnolonger
necessarytoprotectagainsta
continuingsignificantthreatto
thenationalsecurityofthe
UnitedStates,”the Pentagonsaid
in anewsreleaseSaturdaythat
announcedhistransfer.
—AndrewdeGrandpreIllinoiswomanchallenges
convictionin son’s death:A
suburbanChicagowomanwho
pleadedguiltyinher 5-year-old
son’s death is challengingher
convictionand35-yearsentence,
sayingshehadpostpartum
depressionandpsychosiswhen
shekilledherson,AJ.JoAnn
Cunningham,39,of CrystalLake
claimedin herpetitionforpost-
convictionreliefthatshe didnot
receiveadequate counsel.She
claimedto have beenseeing
demonsandbelievedthather
sonwaspossessedby ademon,
andsaidshesoughtanexorcism
fromapriest, achaplainand
A.J.’s father,AndrewFreund,the
NorthwestHeraldreported.
McHenryCountyJudgeRobert
Wilbrandt,whosentenced
Cunningham,saidFridaythathe
has 90 days to decidewhether
thepost-convictionpetitionhas
merit.Missinghiker’sbodyfoundin
L.A. park withdog by hisside:
Ahiker whowentmissingtwo
weeksagowas founddeadin
Griffith Park withhisdogby his
side,authoritiessaid.Oscar
AlejandroHernandez,29,was
reportedmissingMarch16.His
bodywasfoundThursdaynight
in aremoteareaof thesprawling
urbanpark.Hisdog,King, was
alivebutemaciated.He
apparentlyhadn’t left
Hernandez’ssidefor twoweeks,
arelativetoldKNBC-TV.The
familywastherewhenthebody
wasfound,saidSgt. Ruben
Arellano,awatch commanderat
thestationin chargeofGriffith
Park.Hernandezwaslastseen
neartheparkmerry-go-round’s
hikingtrails,accordingto a
missingpersonflierpostedby
hisfamily.Therewasno
immediate wordonthecauseof
hisdeath.Thereis noreasonto
believe foulplaywas involved,
Arellanosaid.
—From newsserviceswasn’t allowed topresent
evidencequestioningthevalidity
of herconfession.
As herApril27 executiondate
nears,Lucio’s lawyersare
hopefulthatnewevidence,along
withgrowingpublicsupport—
includingfromjurorswhonow
doubttheconvictionandfrom
morethanhalfof theTe xas
Houseof Representatives—will
persuadethestate’sBoard of
PardonsandParolesandGov.
GregAbbott(R) to grantan
executionreprieve or commute
hersentence.
TheCameronCountyDistrict
Attorney’s Office,which
prosecutedLucio,declinedto
comment.
—AssociatedPressDELAWAREGuantánamodetainee
transferredto AlgeriaTheBiden administrationsaid
Saturdaythatithad completed
therepatriationof another
GuantánamoBaydetainee,
sendingSufiyanBarhoumifrom
theU.S. militaryprisonin Cuba
to hisnativeAlgeria.
Barhoumihadbeenheldat
GuantánamoBaysince his
capturein Pakistanin 2002.
Officialssuspectedhe hadTEXAS
Lawyershopeto stop
woman’sexecution
Duringhoursof relentless
questioning,MelissaLuciomore
than 100 timeshaddeniedfatally
beatingher2-year-olddaughter.
Butworndownfroma
lifetimeof abuseandthegriefof
losingherdaughterMariah,her
lawyerssay, theTe xaswoman
finallyacquiescedto
investigators.“I guessIdid it,”
Luciorespondedwhenasked
whethershewasresponsiblefor
someof Mariah’s injuries.
Herlawyerssaythat
statementwaswrongly
interpretedby prosecutorsas a
murderconfession—tainting
therestofthe investigationinto
Mariah’s 2007death,with
evidencegatheredonlyto prove
thatconclusion,andhelpinglead
to hercapitalmurderconviction.
They contendMariahdiedof
injuriesfromafall downthe 14
stepsof asteep staircaseoutside
thefamily’s apartmentin the
SouthTe xascityofHarlingen.
Lucio’s lawyerssayjurors
neverheardforensicevidence
thatwould have explainedthat
Mariah’s variousinjurieswere
actuallycausedby afall days
earlier.TheyalsosayLucio
politics &the nation
BYMARISAIATIAn announcement byBruce
Willis’sfamilythattheactoris
retiringbecauseofan aphasia
diagnosishasshoneaspotlight
onthecommunicationdisorder,
whichcanaffecthowsomeone
understandsor expresseswritten
or spoken language.
About2million Americans
have aphasia, making it more
commonthanParkinson’s disease
orcerebral palsy.Willis’sfamily
hasnotspecified whattypeof
aphasiahehas,whatcausedit or
whetherhe hasanyotherimpair-
ments.
Here’s whattoknowaboutthe
condition.
Whatisaphasia?
Aphasiais adisordercausedby
damagetothebraintissuere-
sponsibleforlanguage, usually
ontheleft sideof thebrain.The
conditioncanmanifestasdiffi-
cultyunderstanding language,
producinglanguageorboth.It
mostoftenoccursin middleage
or later.
Strokes arethemostcommon
cause,andabout25 to 40percent
of strokesurvivorsdevelopapha-
sia, according to the National
AphasiaAssociation.Otheracute
events,including brainhemor-
rhages,tumorsorbraininjuries
causedby acar accident,canalso
serve as theorigin.Less frequent-
ly,aphasiadevelopsslowlyand
worsensovertime.
Aphasiais notacognitivedis-
orderanddoesn’t affectaperson’s
intelligence.Butcognitiveissues
mayoccur simultaneouslyas an-
otherresult of the eventthat
causedtheaphasia,saidSwathi
Kiran, directorof theAphasia
ResearchLaboratoryatBoston
University.
Whatare thesymptomsof
aphasia?
Aphasiamanifests invarying
ways,eveninpatientswiththe
sametype of thecondition.Some
peoplestruggleto rememberthe
names ofobjects orformulate
sentencesthatreflect what
they’re thinking.Othershave dif-
ficultycomprehending what
thosearound themare saying
becausethewordsmaysound
rushedor confusing.
Asaresult,socializingcanbe a
verystressfulexperience.Some
aphasiapatientslimittheirinter-
actionswithothers,causingthem
to sufferfromisolation.
“Theytrytostayawayfrom
situationsbecauseit’s toughfor
them to talk and theywould
rathernottalk,andthatactually
endsupbeingmuchmoredebili-
tative,”Kiransaid.
Among the mostcommon
forms ofthe disorder isWer-
nicke’saphasia,whichis causedby damagetothe brain’s temporal
lobeandmaymakesomeonehave
troubleunderstanding spoken
language. Their speech may
soundrelativelynormalif you’re
not listening closely,butthey
mightusewordsthatdon’t fit,
makeupwordsorsaycomplete
sentenceswithnomeaning,said
EllynRiley, directorof Syracuse
University’sAphasia Research
Lab.
SomeonewithBroca’saphasia,
causedbyinjurytothebrain’s
frontallobe,mayunderstandoth-
er people’s speechbutstruggleto
formtheirownsentences.Theymightspeakin shortphrases and
omitsmallwords,suchas “and.”
Globalaphasiaresultsfromex-
tensivedamagetothe parts of the
brainresponsibleforlanguage.
Peoplewiththistype of thecondi-
tionmayhavedifficultywithboth
understandinglanguageandfor-
mulatingit themselves.They also
usuallycannotreador write.
Thegradualformof aphasia,
calledPrimaryProgressiveApha-
sia,causesaperson’s braintissue
—and,therefore,languageabili-
ties—todeteriorateovertime.
WhiletheNationalAphasiaAsso-
ciationsays thistype of thecondi-tionis causedby neurodegenera-
tivediseases,suchas Alzheimer’s
disease,Kiran saidscientists have
notreacheduniversalagreement
onthatpoint.Arethereanypreventive
methods,treatmentsor
cures?
Sincestrokes are the most
commoncauseof aphasia,lower-
ingyourriskfactorsforthattype
of emergencycanmakeyouless
likelytodevelopaphasia,Riley
said.Maintainingahealthyblood
pressure,exercising regularly,
eatingfoodslowin saturatedfat,andavoidingsmokingandexces-
sivealcoholcanhelp.
There’s no curefor aphasia
oncesomeonedevelopsit,and
theNationalAphasiaAssociation
says complete recoveryisunlikely
forpeoplewhosesymptomsper-
sistformorethantwoorthree
monthsaftertheacuteevent.But
treatmentscansignificantlyen-
hancepatients’abilitytocommu-
nicate.Speechlanguagepatholo-
gists canhelppeoplemaintain
thelanguageskillstheystillpos-
sess or relearnlanguageand
grammar.
“Manyofthemcangobackto
theiroldjobsandleadlivesfrom
before,”Kiransaid.“Sometimes
theroadto rehabilitationis long
and hard, but it’s possible to
improve.”
Theprogressiveformof apha-
siacan’t be reversed,butresearch
suggeststhatrehabilitationcan
stall orslow the decline ofa
patient’s communication abili-
ties.Ongoingresearchis examin-
ingwhetherelectricalbrainstim-
ulation could eventually be
paired with behavioral treat-
mentsformaximumimpact.Howcan youeffectively
communicate withsomeone
whohasaphasia?
Communicatingwithsomeone
whohasaphasiacanbetricky,
andpatienceis key. Experts sug-
gest speakingslowly,trying to
keepsentences simpleand re-
peatingyourselfif asked.Nonver-
balformsof communication,like
gesturingand drawingimages,
canalsohelpthepersonunder-
stand.Keep in mindthataphasia
hasnotcausedthemto developa
hearingproblemor limitedtheir
intelligence.
Kiran suggestedthinking of
everyinteractionwithsomeone
whohasaphasiaas anopportu-
nityfortheirbraintoexercise
itself.
“Notbeingabletocommuni-
cate withyourfamilymembers
andlovedonescanbeveryfrus-
tratingandveryisolating,” she
said. “A nd sofamily members
reallyneedto helpthepersonfeel
comfortabletakingeveryoppor-
tunitytocommunicate.”Understanding aphasia, the disorder cited in actor’s retirement
PICTUREALLIANCE/GETTYIMAGES
BruceWillis andhis wife,EmmaHeming-Willis,in 2013.Willis’sfamily announced Wednesdaythatthe actor wassteppingbackfromthe
industryafter being diagnosedwithaphasia, acommunication disorderthat canaffect howsomeoneunderstands or expresseslanguage.0200 k400 k600 k800 k1m1.2m7-dayavg.Feb.29,2020 Jan.01m2m3m4m5mFeb.29,2020 Jan.7-dayavg.02k4k7-dayavg.Feb.29,2020 Jan.AprilAprilAprilAsof8p.m.Friday80,113,
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