Aphasia
Approximately 1,000,000 people in the U.S. have aphasia. The majority of these cases are a result of stroke.
Strokes are striking earlier. New statistics show fewer older people are having strokes while the number of younger people having strokes is rising. Click here for the rest of the story.
• Aphasia may co-occur with speech disorders, such as dysarthria or apraxia of speech.
• Most people with aphasia can benefit from therapy by a speech and language pathologist.
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Speech
Fluency of speech, vocal quality, vocal loudness, speech clarity, and the strength and coordination of the speech
muscles (tongue, lips)
Understanding
Understanding and use of vocabulary and grammar
Understanding and answering both yes-no (e.g., Is your name Frank?) and Wh-questions (e.g., What do you do with a knife?)
Understanding long conversation-the person listens to a story and answers fact-based questions and makes conclusion based on information gathered from the story
Ability to follow directions that increase in both length and detail
Ability to tell an long story both verbally and in written
Expressing
Can the person tell the steps needed to complete a task or can he or she tell a story
Can the person recall the words he or she needs to express ideas?
Is the person expressing himself or herself in complete sentences?
Social Communication
Ability to interpret or explain jokes or absurdities in stories or pictures (e.g., What is strange about a person using an rain coat on a sunny day?)
Ability to initiate conversation, take turns during a discussion, and express thoughts clearly using a variety of words and sentences
Ability to clarify or restate when his or her conversational partner does not understand
Reading and Writing
Reading and writing of letters, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs
Other
Is chewing, swallowing and eating different after the aphasia
Copyright 2010 Educational Consultants Group | Last updated: March 14, 2015
Did you know?
If your score is greater than 10, an evaluation is recommended
If your score is greater than 10, an evaluation is recommended
If your score is between 7 and 17, a screening is recommended. If greater than 18, an evaluation is recommended.
If your score is between 5 and 8, a screening is recommended. If greater than 9, an evaluation is recommended.
If you rate both types of aphasia high then it is possible he/she has both expressive and receptive difficulties to varying degrees. The higher the score, the more likely a significant impairment is present.
There are two types of Aphasia: Expressive Aphasia and Receptive Aphasia. How do I know which type is the problem?
How is aphasia diagnosed?
At Educational Consultants Group the speech-language pathologist (SLP) works collaboratively with the person's family and other professionals to address all of the person's communication needs. The speech language pathologist evaluates the individual and determines the type and severity of aphasia. The evaluation is done by assessing the following areas of communication:
What treatments are available for people with aphasia?
There are many types of treatment available for individuals with aphasia. The type of treatment depends on the needs and goals of the person with aphasia. There are specialized programs using traditional therapy, microcurrent therapy or biofeedback. There are also less formal approaches available. For many, a combination of formal and informal tasks is most appropriate. Each person is different and needs are different. Consult with a speech language pathologist at Educational Consultants Group to determine the best course of treatment.
Where can I find more information about aphasia?
This list is not exhaustive and inclusion does not imply endorsement of the organization or the content of the Web site.
What is aphasia?
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to the parts of the brain that contain language. Aphasia causes problems with any or all of the following: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Damage to the left side of the brain causes aphasia for most right-handers and about half
of left-handers. Individuals who experience damage to the right side of the brain may have
additional difficulties beyond speech and language.
Individuals with aphasia may also have other problems, such as slurred speech, inabilty to
move facial muscles, or swallowing problems.
How do you know if your loved one has aphasia?
If they have trouble using words and sentences they may have expressive aphasia. If they have difficulty understanding others they may have receptive aphasia. If they struggle with both using words and understanding global aphasia may be the diagnosis. Do they have problems with spoken language (talking and understanding)? Do they have difficulty with written language (reading and writing)? Are reading and writing skills more impaired than talking or understanding? The severity of communication difficulties depends on the amount and location of the damage to the brain.Rate the symptoms below to get a better understanding of the problem.
(Please rate your level of agreement on a scale of 0 to 5. 0 - not a problem, 1 - seldom agree, 2 - somewhat agree, 3 - agree, 4 - strongly agree. 5 - definitely is a problem)
Which one of these symptoms sound similar to the one your loved one is experiencing?
He/she is able to carry on normal conversations in many settings
He/she has trouble understanding language when it is long and/or complex
He/she has trouble finding the words (called anomia) to express an idea or explain himself/herself
He/she may not understand anything that is said to him/her
He/she may say little or nothing at all
He/she may make approximations of common phrases, such as "yes," "no,", "hi," and "thanks"
He/she only speaks in single words (e.g., names of objects)
He/she speaks in short, fragmented phrases
He/she omits smaller words like "the," "of," and "and" (the message sounds telegram)
He/she puts words in the wrong order
He/she switches sounds and/or words (e.g., bed is called table or dishwasher a "wish dasher")
He/she makes up words (e.g., jargon)
He/she strings together nonsense words and real words fluently but makes no sense
He/she requires extra time to understand spoken messages
(e.g., like translating a foreign language)
He/she finds if very hard to follow fast speech (e.g., radio or television news)
He/she misinterprets literal meaning of figurative speech (e.g., "it's raining cats and dogs")
