According to the American Stroke Association (ASA), it’s estimated that more than two million people in the United States have aphasia, a language disorder that often results from stroke. The ASA also reports that less than half of the U.S. population have heard of the disorder, although some awareness was gained after the diagnosis of well-known actor Bruce Willis.
“Aphasia is a language disorder that’s characterized by difficulty with understanding, speaking, reading and/or writing,” says Mekenzi Peck, SLP, a speech pathologist with SSM Health in Shawnee. “We most often see an aphasia diagnosis after a stroke, but it can also follow a brain injury, brain surgery or even a brain infection or tumor.”
There are multiple types of aphasia, and the impact of each can range in severity. The most common types include Global aphasia, mixed non-fluent aphasia, Broca’s aphasia, Wernicke’s aphasia, anomic aphasia and primary progressive aphasia (PPA). With PPA, the cause is a neurodegenerative disease, rather than the result of stroke or brain injury.
“Aphasia can affect your ability to understand things being said to you, and affect your ability to speak and verbalize your thoughts and ideas,” says Peck. “It can also affect your ability to read and write – to understand written words and even the ability to write words. As therapists, when we’re making our assessments to identify a specific type, these are the areas we’re looking at – is comprehension a struggle or is verbal expression more difficult than reading and writing? Aphasia is complex, so our evaluations allow us to provide more individualized therapy.”
The ASA emphasizes that aphasia does not affect intelligence, and Peck stresses this to her clients as well.
“Many of my clients with aphasia will say the word they’re trying to say is on the tip of their tongue but they can’t get it out,” she says. “I always remind clients that they’ve not lost any knowledge. Instead, the way their brain accesses their knowledge has changed because of the injury.”
While there is a higher prevalence of stroke in older adults, Peck has had many 20- and 30-year-old survivors of stroke that have developed aphasia, and many clients who have recovered well.
“Aphasia has a very broad spectrum and you can have a mild to severe case,” she says. “I’ve had some clients who have been able to regain a lot of their language skills, return to high-level jobs or education, as well as engage in conversations. And then I’ve had some patients where we’ve decided that a speech generating device was the best route to allow them to communicate independently.”
She adds that a patient’s support system also influences recovery.
“Having a caregiver and other family members and friends involved in the treatment process is very beneficial and can greatly affect the quality of life for everyone,” says Peck. “It’s a journey that requires patience and understanding, but when a client begins to make progress, it’s very rewarding. With good support and focused therapy, there can be positive outcomes.”
