Life After Aphasia- What Next?

Aphasia impairs the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing. About 1 million people in the United States currently have aphasia, and nearly 180,000 Americans acquire it each year. Aphasia usually occurs suddenly, often following a stroke or head injury, but it may also develop slowly, as the result of a brain tumor or a progressive neurological disease. Aphasia may co-occur with speech disorders, such as dysarthria or apraxia of speech, which can also result from brain damage. Therefore, life after aphasia can mean living with communication difficulties (speech and language).