Certain things that can help if you are talking to someone with aphasia

Many people with aphasia have difficulties with expressive language.
Expressive language is when you put thoughts into words and sentences, in a way that makes sense and is grammatically accurate.
It can be very frustrating if this is hard for you.

If expressive language is a challenge:

• You may get stuck on a word or sound and repeat this often when trying to communicate.

• You may be able to refer to places and different objects but not be able to name them. You may miss out these words when you speak.

• You may know the word that you want to say but another word may come out instead. Sometimes these words can be related to the one you wanted to say e.g carrot instead of potato and sometimes these words may be unrelated, e.g table instead of potato.

• You may say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ but mean the opposite. This can make it difficult as your answers can be unreliable.

• You may pause a lot when you talk. The word you want may be on the tip of your tongue but you can’t get it out.

• You may speak at a normal rate but your speech may not be recognisable by others . This means your speech may not mean what you wanted it to.

• You may not be able to speak at all. You may be able to produce a few sounds. You may find it hard to form certain sounds.

• You may only have a few set words that you can say. These words may be swear words or emotional words. You may say these words when you didn’t mean to.

• You may find it hard to speak in full sentences. You may get the words in the wrong order or only be able to say a few words at a time. You may miss out certain words that are important in that sentence.

by Rebecca Kipping, Speech and Language Therapist
January 16, 2014 · Facebook
The Speech Therapy Centre - North West England
http://www.speechtherapycentre.com