Northern Arizona University

SPEECH & LANGUAGE CLINIC APHASIA

Aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain damage. Some problems associated with aphasia include: speaking (expressive language), listening (receptive language), reading, and writing. The most common cause of aphasia is a stroke that affects the language dominant hemisphere of the brain. For the majority of people, the left hemisphere is the dominant hemisphere for language.

There are various types of aphasia. For example, Broca’s aphasia is characterized by difficulty finding words, limited verbal output, and right-sided weakness. Wernicke’s aphasia is characterized by fluent, excessive verbal productions with little meaning and poor receptive language. Global aphasia affects all aspects of communication and is typically the most severe type of aphasia.

Aphasia Services at the NAU Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic

The NAU Clinic offers services in the evaluation and management of aphasia. Evaluation services may include a case history interview, assessment of oral-motor and speech skills, and informal and formal assessment of receptive (understanding of) language and expressive (use of) language.

Therapy services are designed for the individual client's needs and may include language production, functional to high-level language, and language comprehension of simple and complex communication. Use of compensatory strategies and therapeutic strategies such as Melodic Intonation Therapy may be used.

Web-links - Aphasia

http://www.aphasia.org

http://www.mirconnect.com/specificnational/brain.html

http://www.stroke.org

Back to Clinic Hompage

NAU Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic NAU, Health and Human Services, #66 Flagstaff, Arizona 86011-5045 Clinic: (928) 523-8110 Email: Clinic