Online Speech Therapy for a Stroke or Other Brain Injury

Individuals with anomic aphasia have difficulty with word-finding skills. Typically, auditory comprehension and reading are unaffected, while writing often mirrors speech output.

Broca’s aphasia is also known as non-fluent aphasia. In this form of aphasia, speech output is reduced, and the person often has word-finding difficulties, also known as anomia. Auditory comprehension and reading comprehension are usually preserved, but writing typically mirrors spoken language output.

The hallmark of conduction aphasia is difficulty with the repetition of words, sentences, and phrases. A person with conduction aphasia can usually read, write, speak, and understand spoken messages. Some people have mild word-finding difficulties.

Global Aphasia is the most severe form of aphasia. Global aphasia affects receptive and expressive language, meaning that auditory comprehension, reading, writing, and spoken language are all impaired.

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) occurs when spoken language output and auditory comprehension becomes slowly and progressively impaired over time. While stroke or other brain injuries can cause other forms of aphasia, PPA is caused by neurodegenerative diseases. Although the first symptoms are problems with speech and language, other symptoms related to dementia may appear in the later stages, such as memory loss.

In individuals with mixed transcortical aphasia, speech is often slow and halting, resembling severe Broca's aphasia. However, unlike Broca’s aphasia, auditory comprehension, reading, and writing are often impaired. The ability to repeat complex words and sentences is a strength in this type of aphasia.

Transcortical motor aphasia is a type of non-fluent aphasia like Broca’s aphasia. Speech output is reduced with frequent episodes of word-finding difficulties making speech halting with many starts and stops. Individuals with transcortical motor aphasia have preserved repetition, as they can repeat words and sentences of considerable length and complexity. The severity of this type of aphasia can range from mild to severe.

Transcortical sensory aphasia is the least common type of aphasia. It is similar to Wernicke’s aphasia in that speech is fluent but often lacks meaning. Auditory comprehension is often impaired. Unlike in individuals with Wernicke's aphasia, those with transcortical sensory aphasia have preserved repetition, as can repeat words and sentences of considerable length and complexity.

Wernike’s aphasia is also known as “fluent aphasia.” In this form of aphasia, a person's comprehension is chiefly impaired. While speech is fluent and intonation, rate, and rhythm are unaffected, speech does not make sense, and the person typically has little error awareness. Reading and writing are often severely impaired.