Brecksville speech therapists treat childhood aphasia

How Brecksville Speech Therapists Treat Kids With Aphasia

Our Brecksville speech therapists are skilled at treating kids with aphasia, a speech-language disorder that adversely affects a child’s ability to communicate. A child with aphasia can experience numerous speech-language difficulties, such as understanding what’s being said, coming up with the right words to use, or saying words in the correct order.

As experienced speech-language pathologists, we help treat aphasia by evaluating the condition, determining the exact type, and providing consistent treatment over months and years.

What is Aphasia?

Aphasia is a condition impacting a child’s ability to communicate. It typically stems from a brain injury or neurological disease and can involve their comprehension of language, the production of it, or both. These language comprehension and production difficulties extend beyond speech to include reading and writing trouble as well. This is why our Brecksville speech therapists recommend early intervention whenever possible.

There are three basic types of speech aphasia:

  • Expressive aphasia. This is when a person has difficulty expressing language in speech and writing.
  • Receptive aphasia. This is when someone has trouble perceiving language, whether spoken or written.
  • Mixed aphasia. This is when a person has difficulty both expressing and understanding language.

Kids with aphasia can have varying degrees of it, depending on the type and location of the brain injury. It’s estimated about 1 million kids in the U.S. have aphasia. Sometimes a child with aphasia isn’t aware of his/her difficulties, and adults may presume they understand all of what’s being said because they learn to compensate. If you have any suspicion your child may have some degree of aphasia, it’s best to have their symptoms evaluated by an experienced Northeast Ohio speech-language pathologist.

Symptoms of Childhood Aphasia

A child with aphasia will likely display some of the following:

  • Difficulty grasping longer sentences, spoken and written.
  • Trouble following instructions.
  • Challenges understanding word meanings.
  • Short-term memory difficulties or remembering what’s just been said or discussed.
  • A slower pace of speech.
  • Trouble finding the right words or expressing their thoughts.
  • Use of simple speech generally limited to simple phrases.
  • Trouble with grammar and spelling.
  • Inability to recall information or retell a story.
  • Speak in longer sentences, but often with lacking meaning or containing nonsense words.

Aphasia Impacts Functional Communication, Independence

Aphasia can have a significant, negative impact not only on the child but the entire family. It can make seemingly simple, everyday tasks very difficult. When you can’t understand what’s being communicated to you or accurately communicate your own needs and thoughts, some issues that can arise include:

  • Behavioral problems.
  • Easier distraction.
  • Difficulty completing assignments or tasks.
  • Social isolation/bullying.
  • Frustration.
  • Low self-esteem.

The best way to help a child with aphasia is to seek early intervention speech therapy, which can help them learn to improve their communication, connect with others, and better understand the world around them.

How Brecksville Speech Therapists Can Help

Our speech-language pathologists will conduct an assessment of your child’s auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading skills, written expression, social communication, and short-term memory. From there, we can create an individualized program, using what interests and motivates them, focusing specifically on decreasing a child’s difficulties and bolstering their communication abilities and overall quality of life.

Therapy & Wellness Connection – your connection to a life without limitations – provides speech therapy to children in Akron, Cleveland, Brecksville-Broadview Heights and surrounding communities. We also offer summer camp, day programs, education services, vocational counseling and more. Call us at (330) 748-4807 or send us an email. 

Additional Resources:

Aphasia, Child Neurology Foundation

More Blog Entries:

3 Things to Know if You’re Thinking About Akron Speech Therapy for Your Child, Oct. 4, 2021, Brecksville Speech Therapy Blog