Aphasia

Aphasia is a language impairment that affects your production and comprehension of language as well as your ability to read and write. Aphasia can immediately result from a brain injury, such as a stroke or TBI, but can also develop slowly, from a brain tumor or progressive neurological disease. Symptoms of aphasia include: 

• Speaking in short or incomplete sentences 
• Speaking or writing sentences that do not make sense 
• Speaking unrecognizable words 
• Difficulty understanding other people’s conversations 

There are different types of Aphasia that can be acquired. Some of the common ones include:  

Types of Aphasia	Description
Global aphasia	Most severe type of aphasia  Can say a few recognizable words but understand little to no spoken language  Unable to read or write
Broca’s aphasia (non-fluent aphasia)	May understand speech and know what to say but can only speak in short phrases or utterances  Able to read but may be limited in writing
Mixed non-fluent aphasia	Produce sparse and effortful speech but has difficulty understanding spoken language  Unable to read or write pass elementary level
Wernicke’s aphasia (fluent aphasia)	Can produce connected speech but cannot understand spoken language   Speech can still be abnormal: sometimes sentences do not flow, and irrelevant words intrude
Anomic aphasia	Difficulty retrieving words to speak and write  Fluent in grammatical form but speech consists of using excessive words and expressions of frustration   Understand speech well and can read adequately
Primary progressive aphasia	A neurological syndrome in which your language abilities progressively and slowly deteriorate   Caused by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease

 

Individuals can seek speech therapy to treat aphasia. If you live with or take care of a person with aphasia, there are general strategies that you can use to communicate with him or her. These include: 

• Using short, simple sentences to make language easier to understand  
• Allowing time for the person to respond 
• Providing clarification by repeating or writing down key words if needed 
• Maintaining a natural conversation that is age appropriate  
• Reducing distractions (i.e., turning off the TV or loud music) 
• Encouraging any type of communication (i.e., speech, gesture, drawing) 
• Avoiding correcting the person’s speech and asking too many open-ended questions  

References: 

https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/aphasia 

https://www.aphasia.org/aphasia-definitions/ 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/aphasia/symptoms-causes/syc-20369518