{"id":8406,"date":"2019-07-23T05:12:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T05:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/?p=8406"},"modified":"2021-04-21T14:34:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T14:34:14","slug":"14-symptoms-a-person-with-aphasia-can-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/14-symptoms-a-person-with-aphasia-can-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Symptoms a Person With Aphasia Can Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The condition known as aphasia is a condition whereby an individual finds that they develop an inability to comprehend or form language as a direct result of damage caused to specific parts of the brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, this damage is caused as a result of a stroke or following a trauma to the head, however, there are plenty of other possible causes as well as these. In order for a person to be diagnosed with aphasia, their speech must be impaired significantly in one of the four recognized communication formats, following some kind of sudden brain trauma or at the end of some kind of progressive neurological condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four communication modalities that are used to determine if a person has developed aphasia are auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading and writing, and functional communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, a person with aphasia will display difficulty with more than one, if not all of the different categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Inability to comprehend language<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the most common symptoms that a person with aphasia can experience is a partial or complete inability to comprehend language in one or more of the recognized forms. When a person finds their inability to comprehend language impaired, the world can be a confusing and scary place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of a sudden it is like being transported to a different country, or even a different planet, where absolutely nothing makes sense. Sometimes this relates to the language that is heard by the person with aphasia, in that their brain is incapable of making sense of it, whereas sometimes it is to do with the language that they read. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both cases, it can be an extremely distressing experience for someone to see that they are unable to understand and interact with the world around them. One of the hardest things to do with this is that it can be difficult to explain to a person with aphasia<\/a>, just what is happening to them, because of this very symptom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Inability to pronounce, not due to muscle paralysis or weakness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another symptom that someone with aphasia may struggle with and is likely to experience is a partial or total inability to pronounce sounds and words correctly. This isn’t due to any kind of muscle <\/a>weakness or paralysis but is caused by the impairment to the left side of the brain, which is the part of the brain responsible for dealing with language comprehension and output. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that this new inability can come on all of a sudden can be pretty distressing, as a person may find themselves falling over a word or a sound that they would ordinarily be able to produce without even thinking. This can often give the person the look of someone who is confused and is actually something that a lot of people with dementia experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dementia is one of the common causes of aphasia, and so this isn’t surprising. Speech therapists can try to improve or regain pronunciations, but aphasia can be quite a ruthless thief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Inability to speak spontaneously<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Part of the joy of communication is that to all intents and purposes, it feels as though our speech is spontaneous, intuitive and programmed to be able to meet our needs and the needs of other people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In actual fact, if you boil it down, all speech is planned speech really, it’s just the case that the speed of our neural pathways is so lightning fast that the vast majority of our speech appears to be spontaneous. For this reason, spontaneous speech is best understood as speech that occurs without any clear or explicit planning having taken place, such as that in an unplanned and spontaneous conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People with aphasia may experience extreme difficulty in these situations, as their spontaneous speech is inhibited dramatically due to the slowing of the function of the left-hand side of the brain<\/a>. This means that their conversational language is slowed right down and it can take a very long time for them to get their message across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Inability to form words<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With dementia being one of the main causes of aphasia, it is not surprising to learn that one of the main symptoms of aphasia is an inability to form words correctly or at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the trademark signs that someone with dementia <\/a>will display, an inability to form words, and so the two go hand in hand. It has often been said that people with dementia appear as though they have become childlike or infantile even, and one of the reasons for this comparison is down to their changed and severely inhibited ability to form words, either partially or totally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An inability to form words can cause a person with aphasia to experience a lot of difficulties in their daily life, given that they struggle to make themselves clear and to be understood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world can be a lonely and daunting place when you find yourself unable to pronounce or form words and so unable to be understood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Inability to name objects (anomia)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Anomia <\/a>refers to the inability to name objects. This symptom of aphasia stretches way beyond simple forgetfulness, as the brain is inhibited completely, rather than being clouded by overthinking or similarities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person with aphasia can try and pull the word from their heads over and over again, but if it isn\u2019t there, it simply isn\u2019t there and no amount of encouragement or head banging will bring it back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be very frustrating for people with the condition, but also with the people that know them as they struggle to understand what a person is referring to or the message they are trying to get across. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing that people with aphasia have been known to do to support their daily lives, is to have labels placed on the items they use most regularly. This is a great idea that works well, just as long as the person isn\u2019t inhibited in their ability to read written language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Poor enunciation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It has been mentioned in the past that people with aphasia almost appear to be drunk or intoxicated in some other way, and it is easy to understand why this assumption is made when this symptom is considered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poor enunciation is something that affects almost every person who suffers from aphasia, as slurred or lazy sounding speech <\/a>is common in all those who suffer from the condition. Poor enunciation can range from simply mispronouncing the end or beginning speech sounds of a word, right through to complete incorrect enunciation of the word altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For people with mild aphasia, as remember, it affects people in different ways, this can be a particularly challenging and distressing symptom to experience, as they may be able to hear the word properly in their heads, but unable to make it sound anything like it should as it comes out of their mouths. A tricky symptom to deal with for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Excessive creation and use of personal neologisms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This symptom is a rare one that affects maybe only a third of people with aphasia. It is something that is more associated with people with mild to moderate aphasia and is less of a concern that some of the more serious symptoms which affect communication nan language comprehension in a much more profound way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a person displays excessive creation and\/ or increased use of personal neologisms, you could look on the bright side of life and say that they are at least communicating to a certain level, even if it is still leaving a lot to be desired in terms of decent language production and adequate comprehension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This symptom <\/a>is usually observed with one or two of the other symptoms mentioned here, and to be honest, is usually seen as secondary in terms of importance when considered in comparison to the others. This isn\u2019t to say that it is not problematic though, as it clearly is for those who struggle with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Inability to repeat a phrase <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the earliest things we learn as a human being in terms of speech is the art of repetition. Think about storybooks, nursery rhymes and even the way we encourage babies to say their first words, it all comes down to repetition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is, therefore, a little ironic that one of the first things to be affected by aphasia is the ability to repeat a phrase that a person has heard or had spoken to them. This is all down to the fact that the part of the brain responsible for processing language <\/a>and then generating and forming language is impaired significantly, to the point that it is rendered unable to reproduce or repeat speech sounds at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the symptoms listed here are likely to vary from person to person in terms of actually being present and in terms of their severity as well. Aphasia is clearly no fun at all.
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