Aide: Rep. Giffords struggles to speak

PHOENIX -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords struggles to find words and put together sentences as it remains unclear five months after she was shot in the head in Tucson whether she will eventually be able to resume work in Congress, an aide said in an interview published yesterday.

The interview with chief of staff Pia Carusone published in The Arizona Republic provides the most up-to-date information about the congresswoman's condition since she was shot and injured in a rampage that killed six people and wounded a dozen others on Jan. 8.

A decision on whether Giffords will return to work in Washington does not have to be made until next May, Carusone said, adding that if the progress the congresswoman has made so far were to slow down or stop, she would be unable to fulfill her legislative responsibilities.

Carusone said Giffords' limited speaking ability has led her to rely primarily on facial expressions and hand gestures to communicate.

"She is borrowing upon other ways of communicating. Her words are back more and more now, but she's still using facial expressions as a way to express. Pointing. Gesturing," Carusone told The Arizona Republic.

"Add it all together and she's able to express the basics of what she wants or needs. But when it comes to a bigger and more complex thought that requires words, that's where she's had the trouble."

Often, Giffords is clearly frustrated by her limits, Carusone said.

"When she is trying to come up with a word or a sentence and she's clearly struggling, putting everything she's got into it, and sometimes she's not successful. When she is, there's a relief that comes across her face that she has found the word.

"But when she can't come up with that, it is absolute frustration," she said.

A judge has declared shooting suspect Jared Loughner mentally incapable of participating in his defense and sent him to a federal facility where they will try to treat his condition and make it possible to put him on trial.