Question 1: "How do I recognize if a person has aphasia?"
Aphasia affects people in different ways. Reading and writing may be difficult or impossible. Someone with aphasia may have little or no speech; be unable to come up with the right words; mix up or use incoherent words or find it hard to understand what others are saying. All this can lead to misunderstandings. The person with aphasia may also be frustrated, angry or depressed because they cannot communicate.
Question 2: "What type of brain injury causes aphasia?"
Language involves our ability to recognize and use words and sentences in both the spoken and written modalities. Much of this capability resides in the left hemisphere of the brain, and when an individual has a stroke or other type of injury that affects the left side of the brain, it typically disrupts their ability to use language. The exact location of the injured area in the left hemisphere will affect the type of aphasia the individual has.
Question 3: "Does aphasia affect intelligence?"
Aphasia does not affect intelligence or social manners. People with aphasia still have their intelligence and creativity intact. They know what they want to say.
Question 4: "How long does it take to recover speech?"
Each situation is different. No one can predict how much speech will be recovered. Speech recovery depends on the location and size of the brain injury, age, therapy and motivation. Some people do not recover speech, likely due to the size and location of their injury. Others continue to improve slowly for many years.
Question 5: "What can I do to help someone with aphasia?"
You can use supportive communication strategies to help the person with aphasia have a meaningful conversation. It is important to reinforce and encourage all means of expression -- gestures, pointing, facial expressions, drawing, communication book/board, speech, and writing -- to communicate.