Aphasia
WHO
Stroke survivors, and individuals living with brain injuries, tumors, or diseases.
ASSESSMENT
A comprehensive evaluation of language and cognition.
TREATMENT
Exercises to restore and retrain language and cognitive-communication skills.
What Is Aphasia?
Aphasia is the loss of language due to a neurological injury, such as stroke, tumor, disease, or traumatic brain injury (TBI). It can affect spoken language, comprehension of language, written expression, or reading comprehension.
Because different parts of the brain are affected in different ways following a stroke, aphasia can be characterized in many different ways. As a result, presentations of aphasia vary widely from person to person. In fact, the term aphasia is considered an umbrella term containing several subcategories that describe specific patterns of symptoms.
Cognitive Communication Disorders
A Cognitive Communication Disorder refers to difficulty with any or all of the following components of cognitive-communication: paying and sustaining attention to language, recalling and manipulating information (memory), organizing information, planning, processing, problem-solving, reasoning, interpreting things visually and through other sensory processes, and self-regulating.
While aphasia and cognitive-communication disorders can occur separately, they frequently co-occur, and both can make it difficult to understand what others are saying, find the words to express your thoughts, or hold on to details. This can impact the ease and confidence you feel performing daily tasks, interacting with family members, socializing with friends, or working a job.
Aphasia Speech Therapy
Speech therapy can support recovery efforts by strengthening, restoring, and retraining skills required for successful communication. Research has shown intensive aphasia speech therapy anywhere from one to four hours per day up to five days per week can significantly improve understanding, speaking, reading, and writing abilities for those with aphasia.
With an Open Lines program, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) will tailor an individual’s treatment plan via a series of in-depth tests that examine different aspects of speech, language, and cognitive-communication. Results provide baseline data and help your SLP understand your strengths, needs, and goals.
An SLP will consider medical history, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as your responsiveness to therapy techniques. They will also consider how these difficulties may affect one’s ability to work, interact with people, and/or carry out daily activities. An individualized plan of exercises that incorporate a variety of techniques is then developed and implemented to help a person reach their goals!
Aphasia Treatment Approaches
At Open Lines®, our accent modification program utilizes multisensory approaches to help you achieve your treatment goals. You will begin with an in-depth and comprehensive evaluation by a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) who will assess your ability to perceive differences in speech sound production and articulate the sounds of Standard American English. Speech rate, stress, and intonation patterns that characterize your individual speaking abilities will also be examined.
During the assessment, your clinician will determine how you produce the sounds of Standard American English and whether you are bringing the intonation or stress patterns from your native language(s) into English production. Information from the evaluation helps your specialist develop an individualized plan of action which incorporates your personal goals and speaking demands and uses tailored exercises, which target correctly and naturally modifying your accent.
In sessions, your SLP will help you target your ability to hear and discriminate subtle differences in speech sound production. Your SLP will also show you how to produce English with less of an accent by using standard stress and intonation patterns of standard American English.
You will progress from working on individual sounds in isolation to producing sounds at word, sentence, paragraph, and conversational levels. Your SLP will also guide you through techniques to shift your pacing, intonation, and stress at the word and sentence levels to be better understood.
Open Lines® Online Aphasia Group
Consistent practice is essential for successful outcomes. Keeping up with speech therapy exercises are crucial when retraining and strengthening communication skills. This ensures that skills practiced in 1:1 therapy are continually reinforced and applied across different conversational partners and contexts, helping persons with aphasia (PWA) feel confident participating in meaningful life events.
However, maintaining daily practice can become monotonous, and staying motivated can be particularly challenging for PWA, who often face additional challenges due to various related health conditions. Research indicates that PWA experience higher rates of apathy, anxiety, and depression, leading to withdrawal from social interactions and activities previously enjoyed.
To address these needs, Open Lines® offers an online Aphasia Communication Group. This group is designed for individuals working to retrain, strengthen, and maintain their communication skills following a stroke, brain injury, or neurological condition. The primary goal of the group is to assist members and their families in practicing communication in a conversational setting and exploring strategies to manage daily communication challenges. We believe that a supportive environment addressing physical, emotional, and social needs is crucial for sustaining motivation, managing stress, and living with confidence and purpose. Led by a licensed speech-language pathologist, our classes focus on improving word retrieval and language organization, helping individuals apply their skills in various conversational contexts.
Read our Aphasia Communication Group blog post to learn more. Our online Aphasia Communication Group is available free to all of our clients who are participating in an Open Lines 1:1 individual speech therapy program. The online Aphasia Communication Group is also available as a standalone option for a low annual fee. Please contact us for details.
Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program at Open Lines®
It is never too late! Even those who survived stroke long ago can benefit, and our online, in-home, and in-office intensive programs can help. Participate in an intensive program and return to living life!
Contact Open Lines today by phone at 212-430-6800, by email at [email protected], or through our contact form. If you are ready to take the next steps in treating your communication difficulties, request an appointment to discuss your goals and review our service options.