Aphasia

What is aphasia?

People with aphasia have difficulty using words. It may affect talking, reading, writing and understanding what others are saying.

Why does it happen?

Aphasia can happen as a result of damage to the left side of the brain. Damage can be due to stroke, head injury, infection, tumour or dementia.

Symptoms

Aphasia can cause some or all of these problems:

• Difficulty understanding what people are saying in conversation
• Difficulty understanding written words
• Difficulty finding the right word in conversation or when writing
• Saying the wrong word or jumbling up words and sounds in conversation

Aphasia is not…

Aphasia is not a problem with intelligence or hearing. With aphasia, spelling problems are due to not being able to find the right word. They are not because the person may have to use the hand they are not used to writing with. Reading problems are due to difficulty understanding what written words mean. They are not due to problems with vision or hand control (although these problems may also occur).

Tips

These tips may help to make conversation easier for someone with aphasia:

• Try to find a quiet place to talk, away from distractions. Turn off the TV or radio. Draw the curtains round the hospital bed
• Use short simple sentences, but try not to sound patronising or as if you were talking to a young child
• Try to ask questions which the person with aphasia could answer with yes or no
• Try to ask one question at a time and leave some extra time for the person with aphasia to think about what you have said
• Make sure you have a pen and lots of pieces of paper or a notebook to hand
• Write down key words as you talk. This can help the person with aphasia to follow what you are saying

How can speech and language therapy help?

• We can take a close look at your speech, reading, writing and understanding of words to find out what the areas of strength and difficulty are for you
• We can provide therapy to help you to improve your abilities in speech, reading, writing and understanding words
• We can find useful ways for you to communicate with your family and with hospital staff
• We can help you to understand and take part in important conversations with your family and hospital staff
• We can explain to you and your family how aphasia has affected you as it can affect each person in a different way

See our aphasia self-management sheet.