What is Aphasia?

APHASIA – Are you familiar with this brain disorder?

The National Aphasia Association (www.aphasia.org) conducted a survey to find out what people knew about aphasia. Only 8.8% of respondents correctly identified aphasia as a language disorder. The other 91.2% had no clue. It was the recent announcement from actor Bruce Willis’ family about his diagnosis that pushed aphasia into the spotlight.

According to American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (www.asha.org), Aphasia is a language disorder that happens when you have brain damage. Your brain has two halves. Language skills are in the left half of the brain in most people. Damage on that side of your brain may lead to language problems. Damage on the right side of your brain may cause other problems, like poor attention or memory.

Aphasia is most often caused by stroke. However, any type of brain damage can cause aphasia. This includes brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, and brain disorders that get worse over time, such as dementia.

The main symptoms of aphasia include:

• Difficulty speaking
• Struggling to find the right word
• Using the wrong word or words when conversing
• Having trouble finding the right words or using the wrong words when writing
• Speaking in short sentences
• Saying unrecognizable words

Read Next Avenue’s full article here: What is Aphasia? | www.nextavenue.org

Elder-Well® Adult Day Program specializes in support services for those living with a cognitive challenge, including Aphasia. Our care plan development follows the person-centered approach, allowing our program offerings to be fully inclusive and supportive to all attending.

Interested in learning about becoming an owner of an Elder-Well Adult Day Program? Let’s talk! kara@elderwelladultday.com