Stroke - Aphasia

Stroke is a vascular disease of the nervous system and is a common cause of hospital admission (150 - 200 people per 100,000 every year).It affects all people regardless of gender and age and 30% of cases present with acute communication problems, speech, speech, voice and language disorders. The most common speech disorder that can be caused by ADE is aphasia. By aphasia, we mean the person's difficulty in understanding or manipulating speech. .The severity of aphasia varies from person to person and for this reason speech therapy has developed some basic names that categorize the disease according to the symptoms in question, so that treatment can be directed more effectively. In addition, the patient himself may switch from one type of aphasia to another over the course of treatment, thus changing his clinical picture. Most aphasic individuals have some degree of physical paralysis. And speech problems can range from a minor word finding difficulty to a severe speech difficulty. Many aphasic patients have full knowledge of their problem, but more than a few have difficulty understanding and think that the problem lies in the social environment. A few phrases of aphasic patients are given below and are sure to be key phrases that will help us to understand, as far as possible, their condition.

“Sometimes I feel I am treated as if I am not there...even my own family and relatives make me feel like an outsider, I don't have and don't visit, I live a lonely life...I can play backgammon but I can't say dortias, I think but I can't formulate my thoughts...locked inside my own head..."

For most people speech is taken for granted. And its loss is unthinkable. The patient who has lost this ability cannot express his or her personality. He is driven into social isolation. Anger, depression and resignation are three parameters that lead to a set of psychological problems.

Therapy and the role of the speech and language therapist.

The role of the speech and language therapist is both in prevention, in the onset of aphasia, and in rehabilitation. The speech and language therapist informs, assesses, and reinforces skills while trying to prevent worsening of symptoms. More specifically, approximately half of those who experience aphasic symptoms fully recover within a few hours - days(two to three at most), called temporary aphasia. If symptoms persist, immediate rehabilitation through speech therapy causes increased functionality in remaining skills, or even complete recovery within the 1st trimester of treatment in mild cases. On the other hand, treatment in "difficult cases" is a long-term collaboration between speech therapist - patient - family, usually requiring at least a year without always guaranteeing full recovery in rare cases. What is certain, however, is a stronger improvement in the person's communication with the development and proper use of the skills left over from the stroke.

Useful tips

Below are some basic useful tips that will help you to communicate directly under the new circumstances and will also make the speech and language therapist's work more effective.

• Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes.
• Don't judge.
• Communicate with your person in a quiet environment that provides the right conditions for communication.
• Notice the person's non-verbal messages.
• Find the right tone, voice volume, vocabulary when speaking.
• Gain verbal and physical contact.
• Show interest and concentration in the speech.
• Give TIME for communication.
• Make sure when speaking that you have understood each other's messages.
• Don't change the subject when you don't understand.
• Don't shout.
• Use written language, if you can use key words, pictures.
• Ask one question at a time.(NO: Where do you want to go and what will you wear?)
• Encourage the use of assistive devices such as glasses, hearing aids if used, etc.
• Check piece by piece that the sentences you use are understood, e.g. Okay, we will go to Patras and bring...

Examples:

John is a person with aphasia.

John :I'm going to go to the...cr...cr...cricket......Sunday.

Unhelpful conversationalist :What;

Auxiliary conversationalist :John I understood that you want to go somewhere on Sunday, but I don't know where, can you repeat it?

Auxiliary conversationalist :John, you said you were going to church on Sunday?

Maria is a person with aphasia.

M :She shows her wrist to her companion in a department store.

Μ.Β.S:" I don't know what you mean." and politely tries to change the subject.

Β.SMaria, you show your hand, do you want to buy a watch?

M. :She shakes her head negatively.

Β.Σ. :Can you say something?

Μ. :He shakes his head negatively, uttering inarticulate cries.

Β.S :Can you write it down?(paper and pencil)

M :B….α…t

Β.Σ. :A battery for the watch, we found it!!!

Μ. :Laughs with satisfaction.

Kostas is a person with aphasia and apraxia.

K :He tries angrily to say something by making inarticulate cries.

Μ.Β.S: Assumes something, responds to an incorrect assumption and changes the subject.

Β.S :Kostas, I understand that you want to say something and you are trying very hard, but excuse me at this moment I can't understand! How about we try later?