Aphasia: What Rehab Professionals Need to Know About Diagnosis and Treatment

Aphasia is a communication disorder affecting over 2 million Americans. It is a language impairment which affectsthe production or comprehension of spoken language and may also affect the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always aresult of injury to the brain-most commonly from a stroke. Aphasia may also result from head trauma, brain tumors, or infections. It can be very mild or can be so severe that communication with the patient is almost impossible. A single aspect of language use, such as the ability to name objects or the ability to put words together in sentences may be mainly affected. In most cases, multiple aspects of communication are impaired making it difficult for functional communication to occur as it once did. It is the job of the speech-language pathologist to determine the amount of functional communication available for the comprehension and expression of language, and to determine how treatment might enhance the use of communication skills that are stillavailable. It is important for other rehab professionals to enhance their knowledge of the types of aphasia and theaccompanying symptoms so that optimal communication canbe achieved with these patients across all disciplines.

Highlights

• Common causes and symptoms of different types of aphasia and how these can affect aspects of diagnosis, communication techniques, and treatment activities within your specificdiscipline
• Diagnostic and therapeutic options when designing functional treatment plans and activities for patients with all types of aphasia

Target Audience: Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Speech-Language Pathologists