aphasia

agata · Silver Member Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 296

Hi! I know that aphasia is the loss of ability to communicate. I have person with aphasia in the family. I need someone to tell me how to communicating with the person with aphasia.

odolf · Silver Member Joined: 05 Jul 2000 Posts: 293

It is important to keep encouraging and helping the person with aphasia to regain speech. A professional speech therapist will work with the person, but it is equally important to continue the therapy at home after the patient has been released. There are some advices for you.
The calmer and quieter the atmosphere, the more relaxed the person will be. A noisy environment will discourage the person from trying to communicate.
Encourage the person to speak, and keep stimulating conversation going throughout the day.
Don't interrupt--allow plenty of time for the individual to complete his or her thought.
Constantly correcting the person's mistakes will cause frustration and probably discourage efforts to speak.
Don't pretend to understand the person if you don't. Calmly say that you don't understand, and encourage the use of nonverbal communication or ask the person to write out what she or he wants.
Most importantly, be patient, and treat the person with aphasia as an intelligent adult.

aphasia

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