Aphasia

What is Aphasia? It's symptoms and treatment? A presentation for English 102 course at An-Najah University- Nablus- Palestine.

1. Aphasia
By: Hasan Arafat

2. 1. What is aphasia ?
•Impairment of language, affecting the
production or comprehension of speech and
the ability to read or write.

3. 2. Causes
•Aphasia is caused by damage to the parts of
the brain that control speech:
1.Injury;
2.Stroke.
•Progressive aphasia is caused by:
1.Brain tumors;
2.Infection;
3.Dementia.
•Transient aphasia caused by:
1.Epilepsy;
2.Migraine.

4. 3.Classification
•Expressive aphasia (Broca’s aphasia):
1.Broca’s motor speech area (left frontal lobe);
2.Disrupts the ability to speak;
3.Right sided weakness in the leg and arm.
•Receptive aphasia (Wernicke’s aphasia):
1.Produce speech without any grammatical
problems;
2.Cannot convey the meaning;
3.No body weakness.

5. B. Video- Broca’s aphasia

6. C. Video- Wernicke’s aphasia

7. 4. Signs and symptoms
•Inability to comprehend language;
•Inability to pronounce, not due to muscle
paralysis or weakness;
•Inability to form words;
•Inability to read and write;
•limited verbal output;
•Difficulty in naming;
•Other symptoms.

8. 5. Diagnosis
•Usually diagnosed by the physician who treats
the person for his/her brain injury;
•Frequently a neurologist;
•Tests include:
1.Following commands;
2.Answering questions;
3.Naming objects;
4.Carrying on a conversation.
•The patient is usually referred to a speech-
language pathologist:- comprehensive
examination.

9. 6. Treatment
•In some cases, the patient may recover from
aphasia without treatment- transient ischemic
attack;
•For most cases, however, language recovery is
not as quick or as complete;
•Aphasia therapy encourages the patient to:
1.Use remaining language abilities;
2.Restore language ability;
3.Compensate for language problems;
4.Learn other methods of communicating.

10. 6. Treatment (Cont.)
•Individual therapy (specific needs);
•Group therapy (stroke clubs);

11. 7. How aphasia can be prevented?
•Regular exercise;
•Eating Healthy;
•Keeping alcohol consumption low and avoid
using tobacco;
•Controlling blood pressure.

12. A well-known case

13. Questions?

15. 1. Overview
•Language development varies among
individuals;
•Health professionals have milestones;
•Common words: ‘Dada’, ‘Mama’, ’Dog’ , ‘Hi’;
•Delay may be due to:
1. Hearing loss;
2.Language disorder.
•Language disorders: mean that the child has
trouble understanding what others say or
difficulty sharing his thoughts.

16. A. Comparison
Type of aphasia RepetitionNaming Auditory
comprehension
Broca’s aphasia Mod-severMod-
sever
Mild difficulty
Wernicke’s aphasiaMod-severMod-
sever
defective