When Communication Is Lost

Aphasia is like a prison, but new research offers hope of escape

August 26, 2008 Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

Imagine you're in a foreign country - learning the language is incredibly hard, if not impossible. No one understands understand a hat you're saying. !ou can't

ord. "he best you can do is point and

gesture # you $ust hope the other person understands hat you're trying to get across. No you may be in a position to understand aphasia # hat a person ith aphasia goes through e%eryday.

this is

It is caused by in$ury to the brain, often due to stro&e. Aphasia affects the production or comprehension of speech, %erbal or 'eople "hose ritten. ith the orld.

ith mild cases can blend in easily

ith se%ere aphasia can find themsel%es completely

alienated from e%eryone. "he orst part is intelligence is not affected. 'eople thin&

as clearly as they e%er did. "hey simply can't communicate. ("here are patients ho can say something that sounds

li&e a sentence, but it's $ust garbage,( said speech language pathologist 'aul )ao, *ashington, +.,. (It's a

disability that is not understood because these people cannot communicate for themsel%es. Aphasia affects about one million people in the -nited .tates, according to the National Aphasia Association. .tro&e is the most common cause. Aphasia affects e%eryone differently -some may be able to spea& but can't understand others, the re%erse is true. (*hat ma&es it %ery difficult in this field is that no t o brain in$uries are the same # so no t o aphasias are the same,( said +r. .te%en .mall, -ni%ersity of ,hicago. "here are three ma$or types of aphasia0

hat is said to them. /or

1roca's aphasia # the person2s speech is se%erly limited. "hese people spea& in short, meaningful phrases - usually fe er than four less. A person ith 1roca's aphasia may say, (*al& dog( ill ta&e the dog for a al&,( or (!ou al&ed out of al&,( or ("he dog ords. "hey are able to understand the speech of others, more or

meaning, (I the yard.(

ta&e the dog for a

*ernic&e's aphasia- the person2s speech contains long sentences e3tra ith no meaning # there may also be ords. 'eople ith this type of ords or ne

aphasia usually ha%e difficulty understanding speech. "hey may also be una are of their mista&es. An e3ample of *ernic&e's aphasia is (!ou &no smoodle pin&ered and that I and ta&e care of him li&e you ("he dog needs to go out so I al&.(

that

ant to get him round ant before,( meaning, ill ta&e him for a

4lobal aphasia- these people ha%e se%ere communication difficulties # they may be %ery limited in their ability to spea& or comprehend.

"reatment for aphasia up until no speech or learn their speech. 7ne %ery important )ao said.

has been limited

mainly to speech therapy - this helps people re-learn ays to get around 5the roadbloc&s6 in

ay is to focus on non-%erbal s&ills,

(Non-%erbal communication is often better in these people,( he said. (It's hat you'd do in Italy. !ou'd use or& ith aphasia patients gestures to communicate things - li&e you need something to drin&6. )ao often begins his by creating clear (yes( and (no( signals # this is the most essential basic form of communication. (If it's not the nodding up and do n, it's the thumbs-up or thumbsdo n,( )ao said.

8ore research may pro%ide a better

ay to impro%e the

benefits of speech therapy, .mall said. 5*e need to change the brain, and then ha%e the speech pathologist help change the brain in the right Ne ay.(

ays to treat aphasia use magnetic or electrical ell as se%eral promising

stimulation of the brain, as drugs, he said.

8ost important is ma&ing sure the aphasia patient doesn't end up being ignored because of the disability. 9e spo&e of a oman ho as about to ha%e surgery - her doctors oman ignored her as they discussed it. .mall as&ed the directly if she up. ('eople ho ha%e aphasia need to be included in life,( he ith them. 1ut

anted the surgery - she ga%e a thumbs-

said. (!ou need to ha%e patience spea&ing

if you ha%e patience, they ha%e a lot to say.(