How to Get Treatment for Aphasia

Of all language disorders, aphasia is probably the scariest. One day you are speaking fluently, and the next you suffer a stroke or head trauma and find that you cannot ask for a glass of water. When the language center of the brain is damaged, much learned language goes with it. Fortunately, there are therapies to treat aphasia. Early intervention is the key.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Treat Aphasia

1. Establish what kind of aphasia the person has. Someone with Broca's aphasia understands words, but can only speak a few and with great effort. In Wernicke's aphasia the patient does not understand other's words very well and speaks a lot, but does not make sense.

2. Start therapy as quickly as possible. This can make all the difference in how fast, or even whether, a person recovers.

3. Consider the amount of brain damage, the person's age and state of health in plans for therapy and in expectations of results.

4. Work with the neurologist, pathologist and others who treat the patient. Find out what kind of therapy they will undergo, what results are sought and what kind of supplementary exercises can be done at home.

5. Find out if the therapist has the latest technology available, such as computer-aided imagery (CT scanning, MRI and others) and communication programs. If the therapist doesn't, ask if there is a hospital or clinic in the area where these tools are used.

6. Involve the family. Some training may be needed to help relatives adjust to the aphasiac's particular difficulty, but the sooner the patient can rejoin the family circle, the better.

7. Seek out a "stroke club." These are comprised of individuals in your area who have formed a stroke support group for both victims and families.

Tips & Warnings

• To treat aphasia the doctor or pathologist works in two areas--regaining speech facility and learning to use remaining abilities more efficiently. In some cases supplementary methods of communication must be found.
• Family and friends need to treat the aphasiac like a human being. Speak simple and clearly, but don't talk down to or ignore him. Include him in conversations. Gesture, write or draw if necessary. Don't interrupt or correct him.
• Someone suffering from Broca's aphasia realizes his own deficiencies and may become frustrated and withdrawn. Treatment for depression may be needed in order for therapy to be most effective.
• Those with Wernicke's aphasia do not recognize their problem and may have trouble cooperating with the therapist.
• Be patient. It may take as long as two years to treat the condition.

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