Human communication is a dynamic and complex process that is instrumental to every facet of our lives. It is not until we lose aspects of it that we become aware of its importance.
Aphasia is a complex language disorder resulting from neurological damage to the brain such as from a stroke or head injury. It can affect a person’s ability to talk, write and understand spoken and written language, whilst leaving other cognitive abilities intact. Aphasia affects each person in its own unique way and it is not indicative of low intelligence.
Imagine books in a library suddenly being thrown off the shelves into disarray; when you need a specific book it takes longer to find it. This is how it is for a person with aphasia to find words. There is ‘the tip of the tongue’ feeling. You might have experienced that feeling when trying to recall the name of an actor in a film. You might be able to see the actor in your mind, describe the actor’s appearance - you may even know the sound that their name starts with, but you just cannot find the word. People with aphasia often experience this feeling when trying to name everyday objects. Understandably this can result in them feeling frustration, anger, sadness and shame.
- They may repeat the same word several times to mean different things, or get stuck on a word or phrase - e.g they might ask ‘has the cat has gone out?’ but then minutes later, keep repeating the phrase, or the word ‘cat’ when trying to ask you another question.
- They may have severely reduced speech, often limited to short utterances of less than four words and they may struggle to form the correct speech sounds.
- They may have difficulty writing their name but still have the ability to read a newspaper.
- They may appear to speak fluently but have impaired reading and writing and be unable to understand others’ speech.
- They may struggle to find any words at all and their communication may be full of vague expressions of frustration and attempts at producing speech sounds or spelling out letters with the fingers.
Some key tips for communicating with a person with aphasia:
- Use a pen and paper to draw and write things to support conversation - e.g a person may not be able to say ‘I’d like a cup of tea with two sugars’ but they might be able to draw a cup, a T and write the number 2.
- Use any other resources to support conversation such as magazines, newspapers, photos and maps - e.g they might be trying to tell you where a person lives and cannot verbalise the word, but they may be able to point to the place on a map.
- Be patient (this is one of the greatest gifts you can offer) – sometimes it can take a while for the person to find the words they want.
- Don’t interrupt and don’t pretend to understand if you haven’t.
- Reduce distractions such as radio and tv as this is additional auditory information for the brain to process.
- Encourage them to make choices by pointing or showing a yes/no, or use a facial expression or gesture.
- Communicate face to face with the person so that they can also interpret your nonverbal communication.
“Not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say”
(Rosemary Crossley)
