How stroke affects speech
Strokes affect everyone differently depending on the extent of the damage and the area of the brain affected. Damage to one of the language areas of the brain will often result in aphasia.
How does damage to different sides of the brain affect you?
Left Hemisphere:
- Speaking
- Reading
- Writing
- Listening
- Grammar
- Number/Math skills
- Computation skills
- Analyzing information
- Reasoning
- Logic
- Sequential thinking
- Time awareness
Right Hemisphere:
- Organizing information
- Abstract meaning
- Context
- Spatial relationships
- Visual information
- Face recognition
- Intuition
- Emotion
- Imagination
- Detecting motion
- Music and art awareness
What communication challenges can aphasia after a stroke cause?
Aphasia can affect both expressive and receptive (understanding) language as well as cognition. It is important to note that aphasia does not affect intellect.
Below is a list of communication challenges a person with aphasia may experience.
Expressive language
- Difficulty with finding words
- Slurred or unintelligible speech
- Difficulty writing
- Trouble using numbers or doing math
Receptive language
- Trouble understanding spoken language
- Trouble following directions
- Difficulty reading
Cognitive problems
- Difficulty maintaining attention
- Memory loss
- Trouble with reasoning or problem solving
- Difficulty making judgments
- Disorganization
- Disorientation
- Slow processing speed
In addition to aphasia, a stroke survivor may be diagnosed with apraxia of speech and/or dysarthria.
