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Aphasia (also called dysphasia)
Aphasia is a language disorder (not intellect) caused by damage to the language centre of the brain
If you have aphasia you may have difficulty:
- Expressing yourself
- Understanding what others say
- Reading
- Writing
Aphasia facts
About a third of all people with stroke will have aphasia.
There are 350,000 people living with aphasia in the UK.
Current figures show there are about 58,000 people living with aphasia in the North East.
Aphasia and understanding
You may recognise the words but not always understand what they mean.
You may understand short, simple sentences but not understand long conversations or complicated language.
You may be able to read words aloud but not understand them.
Aphasia and expression
You may experience:
Word finding difficulties – you know the word you want to say but are unable to find it.
Word errors – you may say words which are similar in meaning, e.g. table for chair, or sound similar, e.g. tat for cat.
Jargon speech – you may say some real words but also words/phrases that aren’t real (non-words).
Perseveration – you may say the same word or phrase over and over again, instead of the word you want.
You may only be able to say the main words, e.g. ‘I home’ instead of ‘I want to go home now’.
Aphasia may make you feel:
- Irritated when the words won’t come out
- Angry when other people do not understand what you are saying
- Frustrated when other people speak on your behalf
- Embarrassed with an altered style of communication
- Sad due to the loss of language, communication and connection with people
Aphasia can affect:
- Changes in job and social identity
- Role changes with partner/family members
- Breakdown in emotional and physical relationships
- Friendships
- Anxiety about meeting strangers
Dysarthria (disturbance in muscular control of speech)
- Difficulty with articulation, pronunciation and voice productionâ
- Speech can be slurred and slowâ
- Voice can be weak or strained soundingâ
- Inability to speak louder than a whisper or speaking too loudlyâ
- Abnormal speech rhythmâ
Apraxia of speech (AoS)
Difficulty coordinating the lip/tongue muscles used to form wordsâ
You may:â
- Find it difficult to say a word correctlyâ
- Swap, miss or repeat soundsâ
- Be able to say some automatic phrases such as counting, greetings, saying your nameâ
- Say a word the right way once but be unable to say it the next timeâ
- Also have aphasia and/or dysarthriaâ
Tips
Here are some tips to help you express yourself:
- Take your time
- Write it down
- Draw it
- Point or gesture
- Describe what you are trying to say
- Try not to get frustrated
- Come back to it later if you can’t get to the word
Tips to help others (expression)
- Give time
- Listen carefully
- Encourage other communication, e.g. writing, drawing, gesture
- Check things out, especially yes and no
- Stay calm and relaxed
- Come back to things later if you can’t work it out
Tips to help you understand
- Listen carefully
- Ask for things to be written down, sometimes key words help
- Keep a sense of humour
- Ask people to repeat themselves
- Ask people to show you what they mean
- Ask people to break the information into chunks to help you understand
Tips to help others (understanding)
- Slow down
- Write key words down
- Chunk information into small pieces
- Check they have understood you
- Don’t assume
- Be clear – one subject at a time
- Keep a sense of humour
Apraxia
You may:
- Find it difficult to say a word correctly
- Swap, miss, or repeat sounds
- Be able to say some automatic phrases such as counting, greetings, saying your name
- Say a word the right way once but be unable to say it the next time
- Also have dysphasia and/or dysarthria
Further information
Communication problems – Stroke Association
Aphasia and communication – Stroke Association
Communication difficulties – Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
Communication eLearning – Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
Visit our Stroke Services Information page for more information about local services for people with communication difficulties after a stroke in the North East and North Cumbria.
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