Different types of aphasia

[Rich99]

"The term aphasia covers a wide range of language impairments caused by damage to the language-processing regions of the brain. The three most common types are:

 

Broca's aphasia - This is a form of aphasia in which speech output is severely reduced and is limited mainly to short utterances, of less than four words.

Vocabulary access is limited in persons with Broca's aphasia, and their formation of sounds is often laborious and clumsy.

The person may understand speech relatively well and be able to read, but be limited in writing.

Broca's aphasia is often referred to as 'non fluent aphasia' because of the halting and effortful quality of speech.

 

 

Wernicke's aphasia - In this form of aphasia the ability to grasp the meaning of spoken words is chiefly impaired, while the ease of producing connected speech is not much affected.

Therefore Wernicke's aphasia is referred to as a 'fluent aphasia'. However, speech is far from normal. Sentences do not hang together and irrelevant words intrude - sometimes to the point of jargon, in severe cases. Reading and writing are often severely impaired.

 

 

Anomic aphasia - This term is applied to persons who are left with a persistent inability to supply the words for the very things they want to talk about - particularly the significant nouns and verbs.

As a result their speech, while fluent in grammatical form and output is full of vague circumlocutions and expressions of frustration.

They understand speech well, and in most cases, read adequately.

Difficulty finding words is as evident in writing as in speech."

 

I think ive got mostly Wernicke's aphasia. It takes me quite some time to recognoise the words quite a lot, which means i must ask "sorry" many times! And i have to use a recording device when on the phone, with numbers/details, because it just can become jargon to me. My reading/writing is pretty bad....i read every night a book, but it can take me up to 4 months to finially read a 300 page novel.

 

What about u?

[fking]

Rich.,

 

Can the doctors tell you when you first have your stroke what type you have by looking at the MRI?

 

Seem like most of the early diagnoses by the doctors are unclear if you will speak again or not.

[jriva]

 

 

Rich,

 

My husband has Broca's aphasia along with his apraxia thus his inability to write or type. It's frustrating to me that the general population---even people within the stroke community---don't know that there are many types of aphasia. I hear it all the time: "Why doesn't Don just write what he wants to say?" I usually answer, "If he could write then he could probably talk as well" which for him, is true.

 

Thanks for posting this question.

 

Jean

[fking]

Thanks, Jean & Sandy, the more I read here, the more I know and learn about stroke disabilities. I'm no good at using search modes.

 

I would love to work with aphasia classes and with sign language classes. I have a speech impairment from birth, stammering speech, my son has it real bad, sometimes he can't get a word out at all. He has to say "Perhaps", then try to speak.

 

There is so, so much to learn on this site until you get a never give-up attitude and wish you could help everybody recover.

 

 

[Rich99]

JMO, but i would assume that those groups posted above (by me) are not generally linked directly from a doctor and aMRI scan.. I certainly never got any mention of that from my neuro doctor, at any time. One therefore must assume that those groups are too each individual stroke survivier, and have no massive bearing of the groups and a MRI scan.......each strokes can be very, very different.....eg, be it AVM (diverse, therefore destroyiong certain parts of many area) whereas a tumour area may damage one area, and destroy a mass in location only. But, both stroke survivors may suffer different groups......thats why people are so different. i would agree with goddessmd that the group/stroker would be based with a doctors opinion on a survivors symptoms.

[jriva]

 

 

Rich,

 

I agree with you and Sandy. I also think that in the beginning, when most people have contact with their speech therapies, it's not always clear to the professionals what kind aphasia a person has, especially if there are cognitive issues early on.

 

In your experiences, have you noticed any differences in the kinds therapies you get from what someone with a different type of aphasia receives? I see differences in the kinds of therapies given for dysarthria and apraxia verus aphasia, but the types of aphasia a person has is not often discussed in the teaching client were Don goes to their clinic.

 

Fred,

 

I just saw an article that said learning sign language is a good exercise to keep the brain healthy, even if you never use it.

 

Jean

[Guest PERRYS]

I have no problem knowing what I want to say, or even knowing the right words to say. I have problems with getting the sound out and forming my mouth and tounge at the same time. I was told that this is too another form of aphasia, but what do I know

 

About sign language, I learned/am learning some sign so I can 'talk' some with my speech therapists. It's a pretty cool feeling to be able to carry on a 'conversation' that way.

 

I can write too so that is another way that I can communicate, plus I talk to lots of people through e-mail and chat rooms.

[jriva]

 

Hi Again,

 

I went searching for another list of aphasia definitions and I found a website that puts a name to the type of aphasia describing Don's inability to write---agraphia.

 

Check out this site and when you get there click on 'types of aphasia.' They have a few listed I've never seen before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia

 

Jean

[swilkinson]

My Mum who has Alzheimers now has global aphasia. What she says is jumbled and in that language that someone on this board once delightfully called "intergalactic gaelic". I can tell by the way that she looks at me when she talks that she thinks she is making sense, and she waits for my reply. I doubt that she understands what I say in reply.

Whatever the reason behind lack of communication it still leaves the participants with a lot of grief and sadness and a great sense of frustration. Well that's how I feel anyway.

 

[Jodi]

Is it possible to have a mix of two types of aphasia? A family friend suffered an aneurysm. I think he has a mix between Wernicke's and Anomic Aphasia. Is that possible or is there another name for it? He does know his numbers. Or at least he knows his money. He never counts outloud, but he always knows if there are $2 missing, $17 missing, etc. Recently gambling via internet has become his "meditation", if you want to call it that. I could use a lot of advice about anything. His wife looks to me for answers. It has been just 5 1/2 weeks. Thanks- Jodi

[jriva]

 

Hi Jodi,

 

Yes, it's possible and not uncommon at all to have two or three types of aphasia. Your friend's wife needs to attend as many of her husband's speech therepy sessions as possible. She'll be able to ask questions and learn techiques for pulling speech out of her husband. Patience and a sense of humor go a long way.

 

Jean