Aphasia is an acquired disorder caused by an injury to the brain and affects a person’s ability to communicate. It is most often the result of stroke or head injury.
An individual with aphasia may experience difficulty expressing themselves when speaking, difficulty understanding the speech of others, and difficulty reading and writing. Sadly, aphasia can mask a person's intelligence and ability to communicate feelings, thoughts and emotions.
Did You Know...
- Aphasia is an acquired disorder caused by injury to the brain and affect a person’s ability to communicate. It can seriously affect the ability to read and write.
- Aphasia occurs most commonly following a stroke.
- Aphasia is a part of the diagnosis in one third of all stroke survivors.
- Aphasia can be so severe as to make communication with the person almost impossible, or it can be very mild. On occasion, it affects only a single aspect of language use, such as the ability to retrieve names of objects or the ability to read. More commonly, however, multiple aspects of communication are impaired.
- In Toronto, it is estimated that there are over 6,600 people living with aphasia. The number rises to over 30,000 in Ontario, 100,000 in Canada and over 1,000,000 in the U.S.
- There are nearly twice as many people with aphasia than there are individuals with Parkinson’s Disease and yet the general public knows little or nothing about aphasia.
- The number of people with aphasia is expected to increase significantly as the population ages.
- In a national survey in the U.S., about 70% of those surveyed with communication disorders, felt that people avoided contact with them because of communication challenges.
Click here for some helpful aphasia-related resources.
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