Communication difficulties - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Aphasia (also called dysphasia)

Aphasia is a language disorder (not intellect) caused by damage to the language centre of the brain

If you have aphasia you may have difficulty:

Expressing yourself
Understanding what others say
Reading
Writing

Aphasia facts

Current figures show there are about 58,000 people living with aphasia in the North East.

About a third of all people with stroke will have aphasia.

There are 350,000 people living with aphasia in the UK.

Aphasia and understanding

You may recognise the words but not always understand what they mean.

You may understand short, simple sentences but not understand long conversations or complicated language.

You may be able to read words aloud but not understand them.

Aphasia and expression

Image of two speech empty bubbles on a blue background

You may experience:

Word finding difficulties – you know the word you want to say but are unable to find it.

Word errors – you may say words which are similar in meaning, e.g. table for chair, or sound similar, e.g. tat for cat.

Jargon speech – you may say some real words but also words/phrases that aren’t real (non-words).

Perseveration – you may say the same word or phrase over and over again, instead of the word you want.

You may only be able to say the main words, e.g. ‘I home’ instead of ‘I want to go home now’.

Aphasia may make you feel:

Irritated when the words won’t come out
Angry when other people do not understand what you are saying
Frustrated when other people speak on your behalf
Embarrassed with an altered style of communication
Sad due to the loss of language, communication and connection with people

Aphasia can affect:

Changes in job and social identity
Role changes with partner/family members
Breakdown in emotional and physical relationships
Friendships
Anxiety about meeting strangers

Dysarthria (disturbance in muscular control of speech)

Difficulty with articulation, pronunciation and voice production
Speech can be slurred and slow
Voice can be weak or strained sounding
Inability to speak louder than a whisper or speaking too loudly
Abnormal speech rhythm

Apraxia of speech (AoS)

Difficulty coordinating the lip/tongue muscles used to form words

You may:

Find it difficult to say a word correctly
Swap, miss or repeat sounds
Be able to say some automatic phrases such as counting, greetings, saying your name
Say a word the right way once but be unable to say it the next time
Also have aphasia and/or dysarthria

Tips

Here are some tips to help you express yourself:

Take your time
Write it down
Draw it
Point or gesture
Describe what you are trying to say
Try not to get frustrated
Come back to it later if you can’t get to the word

Tips to help others (expression)

Give time
Listen carefully
Encourage other communication, e.g. writing, drawing, gesture
Check things out, especially yes and no
Stay calm and relaxed
Come back to things later if you can’t work it out

Tips to help you understand

Listen carefully
Ask for things to be written down, sometimes key words help
Keep a sense of humour
Ask people to repeat themselves
Ask people to show you what they mean
Ask people to break the information into chunks to help you understand

Tips to help others (understanding)

Slow down
Write key words down
Chunk information into small pieces
Check they have understood you
Don’t assume
Be clear – one subject at a time
Keep a sense of humour

More Resources

Communication problems – Stroke Association

Aphasia and communication – Stroke Association

Aphasia Alliance

Communication difficulties – Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland

Communication eLearning – Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland

Visit our Stroke Services Information page for more information about local services for people with communication difficulties after a stroke in the North East and North Cumbria.

Further information

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