Living with Aphasia

Stroke is the most common cause of language problems and aphasia in adults. According to the National Aphasia Association (2021), about 25%–40% of individuals who survive a stroke have aphasia as one of their disabilities.

 Aphasia: An acquired disorder of language

In one of the forms of aphasia, called Wernicke’s aphasia or receptive aphasia, the patients may not be able to understand what someone else saying, and their speech is nonsensical. In another form, called Broca’s or expressive aphasia, the patients are able to understand, but their speech is very slow and labored (nonfluent).

 Lost for Words

A disease called primary progressive aphasia gradually robs people of their language skills while leaving their minds intact.

 The Migraine Babble: Why Your Words Get Jumbled

Doctors refer to this symptom as "transient aphasia," a temporary communication disorder characterized by word-finding difficulty.

 Understanding aphasia, the condition impacting Bruce Willis' acting career

Medical experts say the impacts of aphasia can vary, depending on the person's diagnosis. But mainly, the condition affects a person's ability to communicate — whether it's written, spoken or both.

 What is aphasia and can it be cured?

The little-known condition can be caused by a stroke, tumour, head injury or other damage to the language centres of the brain. It can also be triggered by a brain infection or Alzheimer’s disease.

 What is aphasia and who gets it? Inside the condition that led Bruce Willis to retire from acting

People with aphasia fall into two broader categories: Those with fluent aphasia (the most common type of which is Wernicke's aphasia) and those with nonfluent aphasia (the most common type is known as Broca's aphasia).

 What It's Like Living With Aphasia—and How to Support a Loved One With the Condition

That can lead to social isolation, one of the most emotionally painful potential consequences of aphasia. Patients often know exactly what they’d like to say but may have no way to express it.

 What Will Bruce Willis’ Aphasia Diagnosis Mean for the Veteran Actor?

If you think about language and how language is used by an actor, it’s easy to see why aphasia would pose a challenge. The core feature of every profile of aphasia is this difficulty with word retrieval. It’s also called anomia.

New Therapies to Help Stroke Survivors Recover Language Years After Injury

Eunice Bustillo faced a long recovery following a stroke at age 40. After a week in the hospital and a month at a rehabilitation center, she continued to have trouble with vision and motor functions. Even more difficult for Ms. Bustillo, the owner of a consulting business and the mother of a son who was 3 at the time, was overcoming aphasia, a language disorder that is a common aftereffect of stroke.

The man who couldn t speak and how he revolutionized psychology

When he was 30 years old, Louis Victor Leborgne lost the ability to speak—or speak in any matter that made any sort of sense. Upon being admitted to Bicêtre, a suburban Paris hospital that specialized in mental illness, he could utter only a single syllable: Tan. That syllable came with expressive hand gestures and varying pitch and inflection, to be sure.

A tumor stole every memory I had. This is what happened when it all came back

I’ve now been given my health back. Through persistence, luck, and maybe something more, an incredible medical procedure returned my mind and memories to me almost all at once. I became the man who remembered events I had never experienced, due to my amnesia. The man who forgot which member of his family had died while he was sick, only to have that memory, like hundreds of others, come flooding back. The memories came back out of order, with flashbacks mystically presenting themselves in ways that left me both excited and frightened. With my health back, I was able to live a life again, but it’s not the same life as it was before. The tumor changed me forever. And I am grateful for it.

Aphasia may not solely be a language disorder, study shows

The study adds to a growing body of research highlighting other cognitive functions affected by aphasia, and indicates that the consequences of brain damage in aphasia patients may be more extensive than originally thought.

Following a stroke, finding the words can be a lifelong endeavor

McHale, 51, had a stroke nearly two years ago. The blood clot in his brain affected an area responsible for language production and processing, inhibiting his ability to communicate clearly. “It’s a tough thing,” he said. “I started out with one word per day.”

In Brooklyn, stroke patients learn to speak again–in two languages

Aphasia patients, often elderly and carrying the burdens of life, have seen their lives changed dramatically–in many ways, for the worse. So how did one rehabilitation group, deep in Brooklyn, become the happiest place in New York City?

Thoughts That Can’t Be Spoken

A blood clot in one of the arteries that feeds my brain had blocked for a few minutes the passage of oxygen. As a consequence, some of my brain’s neural passages were cut off and died, presumably ones dedicated to transmitting electric impulses that turn words conceived into words spoken.

Using Images to Relearn How to Speak

Rachael Jablo began having chronic migraines in June of 2008, and for four years she dealt with nonstop pain. She knew she had to drastically change her life and started taking daily medication that helped with the pain, but a side effect caused her to have aphasia, a highly frustrating experience for someone who described herself as an articulate person before the headaches began.

When Words Fail: A Rare Brain Disease Causes A Professor To Lose Her Power Of Speech

Before her interview, Joanne Douglas spends the day in silence. Hers is not a spiritual practice, but a cerebral one: Joanne needs to conserve her word supply, which she says runs out over the course of the day, leaving her virtually speechless by its end.

Music therapy is helping me recover from Aphasia

A musician and music teacher - amongst other things - by trade, Stephen turned to music therapy and writing as part of his recovery. Doing so has made a big impact on his capacity to communicate and create, and he is now also the Wellington Community Aphasia Advisor for Aphasia NZ.

What is aphasia? An expert explains the condition forcing Bruce Willis to retire from acting

In most cases, aphasia results from a stroke or hemorrhage in the brain. It can also be caused by damage to the brain from impact injury such as a car accident. Brain tumors can also result in aphasia. There is also a separate form of the condition called primary progressive aphasia. This starts off with mild symptoms but gets worse over time.

A Stroke Survivor Explains Why Samsung's Emoji Translation App May Not Be a Cheap Gimmick

By translating emoji to text, the app could help break communication barriers.

Aphasia experts available to discuss the condition afflicting Bruce Willis

Northwestern University School of Communication and Feinberg School of Medicine experts have been studying aphasia and improving quality of life for people living with aphasia, which can occur as a result of stroke or brain injury, or with aging. Though it can be managed with therapy, few people regain their full ability to communicate.

Bruce Willis and the Cruelty of Aphasia

Jan Berry struggled to recall lyrics of hits he had written and sung.

How Aphasia Steals the Ability to Communicate

Aphasia is a constellation of symptoms that make it difficult or impossible to express or comprehend language. The disorder stems from damage to the parts of the brain that are responsible for language functions, which are typically housed on the left side of the brain. Aphasia can be devastating for patients, disrupting their ability to take part in everyday life.

Learning to Pray When Words Fail

Disorders like aphasia pose a challenge for adherents of speech-based faiths.

More Than Two Million Americans Suffer From Aphasia. Here’s How to Get Help

The communication disorder that Bruce Willis was diagnosed with affects speaking and writing. Here are signs and symptoms.

My crash course in aphasia, the debilitating loss of the ability to talk

When Helen Harris came round from brain surgery, she found she couldn’t even say her own name. She describes her slow recovery – and how to react to someone with the condition.

Noninvasive brain stimulation may soon reach more aphasia patients

Researchers tested the use of transcranial direct current stimulation in stroke patients with aphasia. Their results pave the way for the creation of a large clinical trial to test the new treatment in a number of patients who have lost some or all of their use of language after stroke.

Types of Aphasia

Language is much more than words. It involves our ability to recognize and use words and sentences. Much of this capability resides in the left hemisphere of the brain. When a person has a stroke or other injury that affects the left side of the brain, it typically disrupts their ability to use language.

Why there’s fresh hope for stroke patients who are struggling to communicate

There are various different kinds of therapy that we use to treat people with aphasia. Constraint approaches, for example, involve blocking elements of the environment that can aid the communication of meaning.