Aphasia help?

Question

My friend has aphasia resulting from a brain injury. He knows what he wants to say, but the words do not come out. He seems to be able to learn to say words/names when he sees them written down, like if somebody gives him their name and phone number. And sometimes he copies words from ads on TV and then can say them. I'd like to try to find something, some kind of tests or "homework" for him to do with common words, maybe with pictures and words and then he could copy them down and say them out loud. Any suggestions?

I have a store near me where they sell school supplies, like little kids learning books and crafts, but don't know if he would do anything with these if they're too "babyish".

Answer 1

Hi
I've been a speech pathologist for 12 years and specialize in working with people with neurological disorders. In his case, it sounds like word retrieval difficulties or anomia are the primary symptoms of his aphasia.You have identified some self-cueing he is doing which can be a way for him to practice compensating for his lost language. Speech therapy might really help him. New research in the fields of adult learning and neural plasticity are shooting down the old myths that language re-learning only occurs within a year after injury. In fact, many new therapies are having success even many years post injury. Check out CIAT and Melodic Intonation Therapy online.

As for home practice, you don't need to buy anything special. I would suggest incorporating verbalizations into everyday functional activities. For example, have your friend be the one to order in a restaurant, have him ask for something in a store, have him call and ask for directions to a place, etc. Also, put together a box of common household objects (comb, money, tools, ball, hat, etc). Depending on his abilities, he can name the objects, make a sentence, name associated words, write sentences, whatever he needs to work on.

You can also play games. Anything can be made into a language activity. Play go fish, twenty questions, board games, outburst, etc. Just make sure you require that he says something to indicate his intent or to tell you what to do next.

Remind him that just practicing is important, not whether or not he gets it right. The less he depends on others to speak for him and doesn't rely on gestures or writing, the more his speech will come back. So will his confidence and willingness to try.

One thing to be aware of is that very often apraxia will accompany expressive aphasia. This is a motor planning problem caused by brain damage. One of the hallmarks of this disorder is that the harder you try to say something, the worse it gets. So- if your friend is trying too hard, have him relax, take a break and then try it again. Pushing could make it worse.

You can check out my Yahoo Group if you want:
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/SPEECHCONNECT
Good luck

Answer 2

i understand a lot about aphasia and it isn't what you're describing. My Dad became aphasic for 5 years because of a stroke. He could no longer talk, he can make sounds yet they were no longer words. that's a problematic ingredient for all worried. Aphasia isn't a wierd ailment. It sounds like the guy you're talking about had a psychological affliction.

Answer 3

His best help would come from rehabilitation. If his TBI was recent he should get help now. The best recovery really only takes place in the year after the TBI happens. Many people refer to this as problems with retrieval. Does his brain injury happen to be frontal lobe?

Answer 4

Have heard of PROMPT therapy, (an acronym for PROMPTs for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets)? It focus on working with the motor-speech disorders which what Aphasis is.
Check out there website below.......Maybe you can contact them and get more information
Good Luck

Answer 5

Why don't you see if you can find what you need in stores or websites that specialize in ESL products?

this site looks interesting:
http://bogglesworldesl.com/adultesl1.htm

Answer 6

Try teaching him American sign language. You could learn it together.