Language disorders

A brain injury can cause you to have difficulty understanding, formulating and producing spoken or written language. Speech sounds as well as vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and communication skills may be affected.

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Symptoms

The symptoms below may occur:

  • Not understanding or partially understanding what is being said.
  • Not being able to put into words what you want to say (wrong sentence structure, different word, distorted sounds).
  • Difficulty reading words and sentences. Sometimes you can understand what is written but can no longer read it aloud.
  • Attention and concentration disorders.
  • Partial facial paralysis or poor control of the muscles responsible for speech (swallowing disorders).

Aphasia

Aphasia is a language disorder that occurs after an injury in the language areas of our brain. The disorder manifests itself in communication problems. For example, you may have difficulty reading, writing, speaking and/or understanding what someone is saying. Aphasia usually results from a stroke (CVA), but it can also be caused by an infection, tumor or accident.

The speech therapist examines what type of aphasia you have in order to establish a personalized rehabilitation plan. During this rehabilitation, the main focus is on learning new communication tailored to the identified limitations.

  • Motor aphasia (Broca): problem with language production. Speaking, reading aloud and writing are difficult.
  • Sensory aphasia (Wernicke): problem with language comprehension. What other people say is difficult to understand. Problems with language production may also occur.
  • Global aphasia (Broca + Wernicke): with global aphasia, you can barely speak, read or write and have many problems understanding spoken language.
  • Anomic aphasia: result of smaller brain lesions or enhancement of a Broca or Wernicke aphasia. The problem is mainly in speaking, while language comprehension is reasonably intact.

 

Aphasia does not only affect the person himself. It is also quite an adjustment for the immediate environment. It is important to go through the process together and to find a new way to communicate. The following tips can help you on your way:

  • Take your time, speak slowly and support your words with gestures.
  • Do not muddle through.
  • Avoid elaborate descriptions and long sentences.
  • Don't constantly try to correct language. Don't pretend you understood when you didn't.
  • Use simple yes/no questions and don't force a conversation.

Want to know more about your rehabilitation?

To learn to cope with your disability and maintain as much independence as possible, you can follow a cognitive rehabilitation program.

Cognitive rehabilitation

Departments

For more information about the condition, please contact our neurologists.
Neurology

Plan your appointment

Call for an appointment 011 69 95 60