Stroke, aphasia and neurogenic language disorders

What is Aphasia? Aphasia is a language disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language. Although Aphasia usually occurs suddenly, as the result of a stroke or head injury, it may show up gradually, as in the case of a brain tumor. It is estimated that approximately 80,000 individuals acquire aphasia each year. About one million persons in the United States currently have aphasia. (NIDCD, 2008)

• impairment in forming words and sentences
• difficulty understanding language
• inability to generate the names of items
• impairment in reading and writing

Diagnosis: While the physician who treats the brain injury may be the first to identify the problem through routine “memory” questions, it is the speech-language pathologist who makes the diagnosis, by performing a comprehensive examination of the person's ability to understand, speak, read, and write.

Treatment: Although it is possible to recover partially or fully without treatment (“spontaneous recovery”), most people with Aphasia do need speech-language therapy. When working with a patient with Aphasia, the speech-language pathologist’s goal is to improve an individual's ability to communicate by helping the person use remaining abilities, teaching strategies in compensating for language problems, and instilling other methods of communication.

Treatment often involves the family and close friends, teaching better ways to communicate with the person with Aphasia based upon the individual's communicative strengths and limitations. This can be as simple as speaking in shorter sentences with a pause between the sentences or as complex as using alternative communication devices.

For additional information about Aphasia from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, click HERE.

For information about our Aphasia support group, please see our Communication Support Groups page.