Aphasia

Aphasia is a language disorder that affects the understanding and expression of language. A person with aphasia may have trouble:

  • understanding what is being said to them

  • speaking more than one or two words at a time

  • finding the right words

  • using made up or nonsense words

  • understanding what they read

  • spelling and composing thoughts in writing


Aphasia usually happens after a stroke or brain injury. It can also be caused by brain tumors or a progressive neurological disease. Aphasia often occurs along with dysarthria or apraxia of speech.

There are different types of aphasia. Some people with aphasia may be able to understand nearly everything that is said to them, but have difficulty producing more than a few words at a time. Or they may have only 1 or 2 words that they repeat. Other people with aphasia have fluent speech but with many made up words, called paraphasias. They may also have difficulty understanding conversations or following directions. In mild aphasia, people may only have difficulty finding the words that they want.

Speech therapy can address all aspects of language (speaking, understanding, reading, writing) through activities to restore language function, compensate using clients' strengths, and train family and caregivers to improve communication effectiveness.