Aphasia impairs a person’s ability to hear, speak, read, and write. Those diagnosed with aphasia may also experience swallowing problems, dysarthria (difficulty to articulate speech), or apraxia (inability to perform actions needed to produce speech based on brain damage). The most common cause of aphasia is stroke, but any damage done to the left hemisphere including brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, or progressive neurological disorders can cause the communication disorder as well. Symptoms and severity of aphasia all depend on the person and the intensity of the brain damage. If an individual has damage to the front portion of their brain their language will be choppy and influent, however they are still able to understand what people are saying to them. If damage occurs in the posterior region of the brain they are able to speak fluently, in the sense that the rate and rhythm of the speech is normal, but they may just use made up words or words that don’t make sense in the context, and they have difficulty understanding what is being said to them. Treatments for aphasia vary and the amount of treatment needed is based off of the
Aphasia impairs a person’s ability to hear, speak, read, and write. Those diagnosed with aphasia may also experience swallowing problems, dysarthria (difficulty to articulate speech), or apraxia (inability to perform actions needed to produce speech based on brain damage). The most common cause of aphasia is stroke, but any damage done to the left hemisphere including brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, or progressive neurological disorders can cause the communication disorder as well. Symptoms and severity of aphasia all depend on the person and the intensity of the brain damage. If an individual has damage to the front portion of their brain their language will be choppy and influent, however they are still able to understand what people are saying to them. If damage occurs in the posterior region of the brain they are able to speak fluently, in the sense that the rate and rhythm of the speech is normal, but they may just use made up words or words that don’t make sense in the context, and they have difficulty understanding what is being said to them. Treatments for aphasia vary and the amount of treatment needed is based off of the