Competence Centre Aphasia
What is Aphasia?
We have all experienced, at one time or other, suddenly not being able to remember a word. Each one of us has at one time said something wrong or been unable to express a situation linguistically correctly. In contrast the loss of words or even language (= aphasia) is just as horrific as solitary confinement. The loss of the ability to communicate, or the restriction of very limited communication, harms a person's dignity. The cause of this is often a stroke. Other causes could be cerebral haemorrhages, cranial-brain injuries, brain tumours or inflammatory processes within the brain.
In Germany approximately 35,000 people every year suffer aphasia that sometimes leads to a life-long disability. If other causes of diseases are added to this, in particular brain-degenerative diseases of old age, the number of chronically ill people is significantly higher.
Men and women are equally vulnerable to a stroke and consequently being affected by aphasia. More than 30 per cent of all strokes occur in people of working age, i.e. before they are 65 years old.
Aphasia, translated as speech loss in the German-speaking region, means not only a functional blackout of language for those affected but a fundamental change of their quality of life to date. Aphasia sufferers have difficulties interacting in their own language. Generally the condition affects the following:
• Speaking,
• Understanding,
• Reading,
• Writing and
• Dealing with numbers.
Frequently aphasia is accompanied by a paralysis or weakness on one side of the body (often the right-hand side). Amongst other complaints, those affected by aphasia suffer from:
• Memory, attention and concentration disorders,
• Visual field limitations (hemianopsia),
• Difficulties in physical perception (dysaesthesia, neglect),
• Difficulties in coordinating movements (apraxia, ataxia),
• Mood swings, irritability and
• Motivation disorders.
Aphasia sufferers are not mentally disabled; the ability to think is not impaired!
The consequences of aphasia for those affected are profound. The sufferer's everyday life is severely restricted with regards to communication – to have a conversation, read a newspaper, go shopping, use the telephone, write etc. are only possible at a basic level or perhaps not possible at all. The consequences are that employment opportunities are reduced, social contacts change, there is increased dependency and isolation. With the loss of their speech, those affected lose one of the most important forms of social interaction. The link to the outside world and to other human beings is broken. Aphasia as a multi-modal functional disorder does not have to mean 'intellectual solitary confinement' but can be successfully treated. Aphasia sufferers need special speech therapy as well as special psychological and neuropsychological treatment.
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