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Sophia apgar Slp sitting with client working on an AAC device

Aphasia

 Aphasia is a language disorder that occurs following brain damage from a stroke or brain injury causing difficulties with:

Expression

  • Knowing the word but not able to say it

  • Saying the wrong word

  • Switching sounds

  • Saying non-words

  • Difficulty forming sentences

Written Expression

  • Difficulty writing letters, words, or numbers

  • Writing sentences with incorrect grammar

Comprehension

  • Difficulty understanding what others are saying​

  • Difficulty in noisy environments

Reading Comprehension

  • Difficulty understanding words or sentences that are read

  • Difficulty sounding out or recognizing words

Apraxia

A motor speech disorder that may affect the ability to produce the intended sounds. Signs include:

  • Trouble repeating sounds

  • Difficulty producing new sounds

  • Inconsistent errors- saying something right once then switching sounds

  • Groping speech- difficulty getting your lips and tongue to move to produce a sound

  • Slower rate of speech

  • Automatic speech is intact (e.g., "Hello," "How are you?")

Primary Progressive Aphasia

Aphasia may also result from neurodegenerative disease. Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a subtype of fronto-temporal dementia in which language capabilities become progressively impaired.​​ PPA is deterioration of language for at least two years before decline in other cognitive functions. There are three main variants: 

Non-Fluent Agrammatic

​Characterized by effortful, halting speech with inconsistent sound errors or apraxia of speech and or difficulty in producing complete grammatical sentences.

Semantic

Lopogenic

Impaired word retrieval (anomia) in both conversation and naming task, impaired working memory, speech sound substitution errors in conversation and naming tasks, spared single word comprehension and object knowledge, and absence of difficulty producing grammatical sentences. â€‹

Impaired naming of objects more than actions and impaired single word comprehension.

Man talking with a group, Hands in the air while talking

Services

therapist writing notes

Aphasia Evaluation

Evaluation of language is a comprehensive exam considering:

 

  • impairment of expressive and receptive language that affect communication

  • limitations in activity and participation such as work, hobbies, and social environments

  • environmental and personal factors that serve as barriers or facilitators of successful communication

  • impact of communication impairments on quality of life

 

After evaluation, personalized goals are established together for treatment.

older man and woman sitting at a table

Aphasia Treatment

Treatment is personalized to address the specific areas of need identified during assessment, including goals identified by the person and care partners.

Intervention is designed to

 

  • increase strengths and address weaknesses that affect communication across partners, activities, and settings

  • teaching new skills and compensatory strategies to both the individual with aphasia and their partner(s); and

  • modify external factors that serve as barriers and establish accommodations

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All treatment includes family and caregivers to ensure carry-over and success at home and in the community.

grandparents and grandchildren talking at the table

Patient and Family Education and Training

Patient and family education for language disorders includes training in strategies to improve communication for both the speaker and listener.

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