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What is aphasia & how does it affect communication?
What does aphasia mean?
Do people with aphasia have speech difficulties?
How do aphasia symptoms develop?
Can Speech Therapy treat aphasia?
What are the symptoms of expressive aphasia?
Aphasia is when a person has difficulty with their language or speech. It's usually caused by damage to the left side of the brain (for example, after a stroke). Symptoms of aphasia. People with aphasia often have trouble with the 4 main ways people understand and use language. These are: reading; listening; speaking; typing or writing
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People with expressive aphasia may have some of the...
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People with expressive aphasia may have some of the following signs and symptoms: slow and halting speech – with difficulty constructing a sentence. struggling to get certain words out – such as the names of objects, places or people. only using basic nouns and verbs – for example, "want drink" or "go town today".
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Aphasia is a symptom of some other condition, such as a stroke or a brain tumor.
A person with aphasia may:
•Speak in short or incomplete sentences
•Speak in sentences that don't make sense
•Substitute one word for another or one sound for another
•Speak unrecognizable words
Because aphasia is often a sign of a serious problem, such as a stroke, seek emergency medical care if you or a loved one suddenly develop:
•Difficulty speaking
•Trouble understanding speech
•Difficulty with word recall
•Problems with reading or writing
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The most common cause of aphasia is brain damage resulting from a stroke — the blockage or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain. Loss of blood to the brain leads to brain cell death or damage in areas that control language.
Brain damage caused by a severe head injury, a tumor, an infection or a degenerative process also can cause aphasia. In these cases, the aphasia usually occurs with other types of cognitive problems, such as memory problems or confusion.
Primary progressive aphasia is the term used for language difficulty that develops gradually. This is due to the gradual degeneration of brain cells located in the language networks. Sometimes this type of aphasia will progress to a more generalized dementia.
Sometimes temporary episodes of aphasia can occur. These can be due to migraines, seizures or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). A transient ischemic attack (TIA) occurs when blood flow is temporarily blocked to an area of the brain. People who've had a are at an increased risk of having a stroke in the near future.
Aphasia can create numerous quality-of-life problems because communication is so much a part of your life. Communication difficulty may affect your:
•Job
•Relationships
•Day-to-day function
Difficulty expressing wants and needs can result in embarrassment, frustration, isolation and depression. Other problems may occur together, such as more difficulty moving around and problems with memory and thinking.
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Aphasia may co-occur with speech disorders, such as dysarthria or apraxia of speech, which also result from brain damage. Who can acquire aphasia? Most people who have aphasia are middle-aged or older, but anyone can acquire it, including young children.
Oct 7, 2024 · Aphasia is a language disorder that affects your ability to speak and understand what others say. You might have trouble reading or writing. It usually happens suddenly after a stroke or traumatic brain injury.
May 24, 2023 · Aphasia can affect your: speaking. comprehension. reading. writing. expressive communication, which involves using words and sentences. receptive communication, which involves understanding the...
Feb 24, 2024 · Aphasia is a condition that can affect a person's ability to communicate. To better understand the condition, the Mayo Clinic News Network reached out to Dr. Hugo Botha, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic, to explain.
