Speech and language therapy is the main type of treatment for people with aphasia. This aims to help restore some of your ability to communicate, as well as help you develop alternative ways of communicating, if necessary. You may receive speech and language therapy on an individual basis or in a group, depending on your needs and the service provided. An increasing number of computer-based applications are available to support people with aphasia. But it’s important to start using these with the assistance of a speech and language therapist

Complications of Aphasia

The challenges of living with aphasia can impact how a person feels and interacts with others.

In some cases, it can lead to:

isolation

anxiety

depression

If aphasia has been caused by a sudden brain injury, such as a stroke or severe head injury, symptoms usually develop straight after the injury.In cases where there’s gradual damage to the brain as a result of a condition that gets worse over time, such as dementia or a brain tumour, the symptoms may develop gradually.

Expressive Aphasia

Someone with expressive aphasia experiences difficulty communicating their thoughts, ideas and messages to others.

This may affect speech, writing, gestures or drawing, and causes problems with everyday tasks like using the telephone, writing an email, or speaking to family and friends.

People with expressive aphasia may have some of the following signs and symptoms:

slow and halting speech – with difficulty constructing a sentence

struggling to get certain words out – such as the names of objects, places or people

only using basic nouns and verbs – for example, “want drink” or “go town today”

spelling or grammatical errors

using a wrong but related word – such as saying “chair” instead of “table”

including nonsense words or their speech not making sense (speech-sound errors)

Receptive Aphasia

A person with receptive aphasia experiences difficulty understanding things they hear or read. They may also have difficulty interpreting gestures, drawings, numbers and pictures.

This can affect everyday activities such as reading an email, managing finances, having conversations, listening to the radio, or following TV programmes

People with receptive aphasia may have some of the following signs and symptoms:

Difficulty understanding what people say difficulty understanding written words misinterpreting the meaning of words, gestures, pictures or drawingsgiving responses that may not make sense if they’ve misunderstood questions or comments not being aware of their difficulties with understanding, or their own speech errors

Aphasia symptoms associated with dementia

People with the most common types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, usually have a mild form of aphasia.This often involves problems finding words and can affect names, even of people they know well.It doesn’t mean they don’t recognise the person or don’t know who they are, they just can’t access the name or get mixed up.

Primary progressive Aphasia

This is a rare type of dementia, where language is heavily affected. As it’s a primary progressive condition, the symptoms get worse over time.Usually, the first problem people with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) notice is difficulty finding the right word or remembering somebody’s name.

Aphasia Treatment

The recommended treatment for aphasia is usually speech and language therapy. Sometimes aphasia improves on its own without treatment.

This treatment is carried out by a speech and language therapist (SLT). If you were admitted to hospital, there should be a speech and language therapy team there.

When you leave hospital, an SLT should be available through a community rehabilitation team or, after a stroke, an early supported discharge team.

For people with aphasia, speech and language therapy aims to:

Help restore as much of your speech and language as possible (reduce impairment)

Help you communicate to the best of your ability (increase activity and participation) find alternative ways of communicating (use compensatory strategies or aids) provide information to patients and their relatives about aphasia

How the therapy is carried out will depend on your circumstances.

An intensive course of speech and language therapy may be recommended for some people. This involves a number of sessions given in a shorter period of time.

But speech and language therapy can be exhausting, and an intensive course of treatment won’t be suitable for everyone.

For some people, shorter and less intensive sessions may be recommended.

Therapy may be individual sessions, in groups, or using technology such as computer programmes or apps.

For many people with aphasia caused by stroke, the most rapid changes are early on in the weeks and months after their stroke.

But improvements can continue to be seen many years, and even decades, later.

Assessment before Therapy

The treatment you receive will depend on your general health and the difficulties you have with your speech, language or social skills.

An assessment will be carried out before therapy begins so the therapist can identify which aspects of language you have the most difficulty with.

A therapist will talk to you and your family to try to determine whether your problems are related to understanding language or if you have problems expressing yourself.

The assessment will then focus on the areas that need to be targeted in therapy.

Other health problems that may impact your ability to communicate, such as hearing or sight problems, will also be taken into account.

APHASIA TREATMENT IN LAHORE AT MABILITY:

Unlock communication potential with Mability’s Aphasia Treatment in Lahore. Personalized therapies, cutting-edge technologies, and a supportive environment ensure a journey to enhanced language skills.

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