Aphasia is an impairment of language which affects the
production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read and write. This
is due to injury to the brain most commonly from a stroke; but brain injuries
resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, brain tumors, or
infections. Communication with a patient who has aphasia can be severe making
it impossible or very mild. Aphasia can affect mainly a single aspect of
language use, such as the ability to put words together, the ability to read,
or the ability to retrieve names of objects; but commonly multiple aspects of
communication are impaired. Though some channels remain accessible for a
limited exchange of information. It is up to a professional to determine the
amount of function available in each of the channels for the comprehension of
language and to assess the possibility that a treatment might enhance the use
of channels that are available to the patient. Broca's aphasia or also referred
to nonfluent aphasia is one of the most common varieties of aphasia. In this
particular form, speech output is severely reduced and is limited mainly to
short utterances of less than four words. The access to vocabulary is limited and
the formation of sounds is often clumsy and laborious. A person with Broca's
aphasia may understand speech relatively well and be able to read but be
limited in writing. It must very difficult for a person who did not have no
trouble at all understanding a simple sentence to it becoming complicated after
suffering from a stroke that caused Broca's aphasia. Not being able to express
ourselves through language by speaking or writing can be terrifying because how
is it that one can communicate with the world if it seems impossible.
I found your blog post very interesting. I agree with how you say that someone living with Broca's aphasia must be terrifying because of the inability to communicate. How can someone live or love without the ability to successfully communicate or express one's self with others? The video you posted truly shows the tragedy of Broca's aphasia. You can obviously tell he knows what he's trying to say, he just can't find the words; he can't properly express himself even though he's desperately trying. I like how the doctor is talking with him normally, casually, and even jokes a little bit, trying to help him throughout the conversation. People with Broca's aphasia should never give up trying to communicate and share, and we all need to help facilitate and promote positive communication with them.
ReplyDeleteI also happen to write about this as well. It's pretty crazy how an event can occur and have that kind of affect on our bodies. The video you posted of the man trying to speak is really heartbreaking. I could not imagine what it would be like from one day to the next loosing ones speech abilities. He knows what he is trying to say, but can only describe what he is feeling with about two words. I hope one day there can be a better cure for helping improve this disorder a bit more.
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