Dysphasia
• Dysphasia is a disorder
of language that can
occur as a result of
stroke
• It can range from mild
to severe.
• It can affect:
 Speech
 Understanding speech
 Reading
 Writing
Fluent Dysphasia
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•
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•
Normal speed and intonation
Nonsense words/jargon
Poor self-monitoring and awareness of errors
Understanding often poor
“Cookie Theft” Picture
Example of fluent speech
(Based on description of cookie theft
picture.)
“Well this is…….mother is away here
working her work out o’here to get her
better, but when she’s looking, the two
boys looking in the other part.”
Non-fluent dysphasia
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•
•
•
Slow and hesitant
Articulation errors
mostly uses nouns
Understanding is usually intact
Example of non-fluent speech
(Based on a description of the cookie theft
picture)
“Cookie jar…fall
over….chair…water…empty”
Fluent/non-fluent dysphasia
• In reality, it is not always that clear cut. People
do not always fall neatly into one type of
dysphasia.
• People can change from one to the other in the
early days after a stroke.
• Sometimes people have some of the symptoms
of one type and some of the other
eg. good comprehension but jargon words.
Swearing
•People often swear
when they have
dysphasia.
•This is because there is
a lack of control in the
brain over what is said.
•Don’t be offended! They
can’t help it.
Singing and automatic speech
•People with dysphasia
can often sing songs or
recite days of week or
other learned utterances.
•These are stored in the
person’s memory in a
different part of the brain
than the language centre
for making up sentences.