11/22/2023 0 Comments Stroke affecting speech![]() The purpose of speech therapy is help the patient fully utilize the remaining skills and to learn compensatory skills. Patients can recover from aphasia spontaneously, on their own without treatment, in a mild case. Therefore, in addition to improving the patients' communication, treatment needs to be aimed to support the family and friends as well. There is often a natural tendency by family members to minimize the patient's communication impairment particularly, in the early stages of recovery. It is natural for some of the potentially negative reactions like overprotectiveness, hostility, anger, unrealistic expectations, lack of knowledge and inability to cope with practical difficulties. An interested and involved spouse, family or communication partner supports the recovery process. It is important to note the role patients' families play in the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation, as mentioned, can be a slow process, both for the patient and family to fully understand the nature of aphasia and learning compensatory strategies for communicating. Speech language, however, should not be viewed as a means to a “cure.” Rehab takes time The purpose of speech therapy is to help the patient to fully utilize their remaining skills to the best of their ability, while also learning new ways of communicating. It also involves teaching patients alternative or supplementary communication methods. Treatment for aphasia is centered around speech therapy that focuses on relearning and practicing language skills. Unfortunately, for patients experiencing symptoms more than two or three months after a stroke, a complete recovery is unlikely. It can be a slow process, however, and few people regain pre-injury communication levels. This helps to rehabilitate their language skills and supplement their communication experiences. However, most people undergo speech and language therapy. If the brain damage is mild, a person may regain all their previous language skills without treatment. Not all affected by aphasia require treatment. Researchers say, however, there is not enough data available to evaluate differences in the incidence and clinical features of aphasia among gender and races. However, in the group of patients 85 years of age and older, 43 percent were aphasic. In one study, 15 percent of individuals under the age of 65 experienced aphasia. Each advancing year increases a person’s risk 1 to 7 percent. Risk for aphasia increases significantly with age. become aphasic each year, with one million people currently living with aphasia. Researchers believe the duration of spontaneous recovery can be extended up to six months after the onset of symptoms and various forms of speech and language therapies.Īccording to the National Aphasia Association, the disorder affects about one in every 250 people, most commonly older individuals. Some patients may recover from aphasia after stroke within a matter of hours or days following onset. Stroke is the most common cause of aphasia, and it has been estimated that about 20 to 40 percent of stroke patients develop aphasia. ![]() Many times, patients trying to overcome this new language barrier experience embarrassment, depression and problems in relationships.Īphasia typically occurs after a stroke, head injury, brain tumor, infection or degenerative diseases, resulting in damage to areas of the brain responsible for controlling language. People with aphasia are often aware of these difficulties in communicating with others. It can lead to psychological and interpersonal complications for those affected, as well as for their support system of family and friends. For most people, this means they have difficulty reading and writing. What is aphasia?Īphasia is defined as the acquired inability to communicate using written, spoken or sign language. Speech Language Pathology Manager at Lovelace Rehabilitation Hospital, Jennie Saavedra Duran, M.S., CCC-SLP joins us today to talk about a common communication disorder many stroke patients face to better understand Aphasia and how speech therapy can help both patients and their loved ones.
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