Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs and individuals ability to process and use language.
Does Aphasia impair cognition or intelligence?
NO – The diagnosis of Aphasia does not imply that the individual has an intellectual problem. Aphasia does not reduce intelligence whatsoever.
For people with Aphasia, the disruption is the ability to ACCESS ideas, thoughts and words through language. Aphasia does not interrupt the ideas, thoughts and words themselves.
What are some symptoms of Aphasia?
An individual with Aphasia may have difficulties:
- Retrieving words
- Retrieving names
- Formulating sentences that are fluent or make sense
- Reading
- Writing
- Comprehending auditory information
- Comprehending written information
How common is Aphasia?
More people have Aphasia than other conditions such as Cerebral Palsy or Multiple Sclerosis. Approximately 1/3 Stroke incidences result in Aphasia.
What causes Aphasia?
The most common cause of Aphasia is Stroke. About 25-40% of people who survive from Stroke acquire Aphasia. In addition, Aphasia can also be caused by Brain Injury, Brain Bancer or other Neurological causes.
How long does it take to recover from Aphasia?
Since every brain is different, it is difficult to determine how great a recovery an individual will make. For some people, improvement can be slow. However, for others, improvement is rapid.
How does Aphasia impact Quality of Life?
Aphasia impacts an individuals ability to connect and engage with their family, friends and community. At times, people with Aphasia have difficulties expressing their wants and needs. In addition, barriers to communication impairs an individual’s ability to relate to and interact with others, understand, learn, share and apply knowledge and have fair access to the justice system and other public services.
Communication is a fundamental human capacity and enables individuals to fulfil their educational, emotional, vocational and social needs.
Speech Pathology intervention can help people with Aphasia and aims on supporting language abilities as much as possible, to promote independence and improve quality of live.
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