What is Aphasia?
Aphasia is categorized as a language disorder that significantly affects an individual's ability to communicate with others. Aphasia occurs when there is damage to the part of the brain responsible for the comprehension and expression of language. This disorder significantly impacts communication, as an individual with aphasia will often experience difficulties speaking, understanding others, and reading and writing.
Aphasia causes severe communication difficulties, and many individuals with this condition are incredibly limited in their speech, language, and communication abilities. Some are unable to produce even a few words, while others may repeat the same words or phrases over and over. The impact of aphasia on communication is far-reaching, making it very challenging to accomplish simple daily tasks, communicate with others, and live independently.
What Causes Aphasia?
Damage to the area of the brain that controls language causes the development of aphasia. This type of brain damage can be caused by:
- Stroke
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Trauma to the Head
- Brain Tumors
- An Infection in the Brain
- Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia
Experts are still attempting to determine whether aphasia causes a complete loss of language structure in the brain or whether it affects how language skills are accessed and implemented.
Signs and Symptoms of Aphasia
An individual with aphasia may experience or exhibit the following signs and symptoms:
- Speaking in incomplete or very short sentences
- Express thoughts or ideas that don't make sense to others
- Frequently substitute one sound or one word for another unrelated sound or word
- Produce words that are unrecognizable to the listener
- Struggle to recall or find certain words when speaking
- Find it difficult to understand and navigate conversations with others
- Is unable to understand written language
- Often writes nonsensical sentences
- Frequently omits short words such as "are" or "the"
Diagnosis of Aphasia
The presence of aphasia is typically first identified by the healthcare professional treating the brain damage in the individual. From there, a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist takes place. The process of diagnosing aphasia includes assessing the individual's ability to speak, understand language, and read and write. In some cases, additional tests, (for example imaging scans such as MRI or CT) are conducted to identify the location and severity of any brain damage contributing to the condition. The diagnosis process helps to determine the type and severity of aphasia, which in turn guides the development of a tailored and unique treatment plan.
Types of Aphasia
There are several different types of aphasia, each categorized by different symptoms and affecting various elements of communication.
Broca's Aphasia (Non-fluent):Broca's aphasia causes difficulties in speech production without significantly affecting comprehension abilities.
Wernicke's Aphasia (Fluent):Individuals with Wenicke's aphasia typically produce fluent speech that lacks meaning. They are also commonly affected by poor comprehension, making communicating with others incredibly difficult.
Global Aphasia:Global aphasia causes severe impairments in both the production of speech and the ability to comprehend the speech and language of others.
Anomic Aphasia:Anomic aphasia significantly impacts word retrieval and selection, making it particularly difficult to use correct nouns or verbs when speaking or writing.
Primary Progressive Aphasia:This type of aphasia is degenerative, causing a gradual decline in language skills over time. Primary progressive aphasia is often connected to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia.
Conduction Aphasia:Conductive aphasia results in difficulty repeating words or phrases, despite fluent speech skills and strong comprehension abilities.
The Benefits of Virtual Speech Therapy for Aphasia
Speech therapy for aphasia is an important therapeutic resource for anyone affected by the condition. By bringing our specialized speech therapy services to our innovative online platform, we ensure that essential speech therapy resources are accessible to all who need them, even for those who are recovering from a significant health condition. Virtual speech therapy offers the same level of effectiveness and efficiency as traditional in-person speech therapy, with a few additional benefits, including:
Convenience and Accessibility:
Speech therapy appointments can be accessed from the comfort of your home, thereby eliminating accessibility obstacles that can make it difficult to attend speech therapy. Great Speech offers convenient and flexible scheduling (including evening and weekend appointment times,) allowing you to schedule your appointments when it suits you best, instead of the other way around!
Personalized Treatment Plans & Expert Care:
While traditional in-person speech therapy typically means you see the speech therapist who is geographically closest to you, by bringing our speech therapy service online we can connect you with a speech and language pathologist who is ideally suited to address your specific communication concerns and ensure you reach your communication goals as soon as possible. Through Great Speech, you can receive expert support and guidance from experienced and qualified professional speech therapists who specialize in the treatment of aphasia and provide consistent care and support.
Effective Use of Technology:
Virtual speech therapy allows individuals to engage with a variety of interactive tools and exercises through our completely private and user-friendly video conferencing platforms, making therapy both effective and engaging.
How Will I Pay for it
Great Speech offers private-pay options, but we also partner with a number of insurance providers. Whether professional speech therapy services for aphasia are covered by your health insurance plan depends on multiple factors, including the specific policies of your insurance provider, your exact diagnosis, and your insurance plan. To find out whether the cost of online speech therapy for aphasia will be covered, we advise contacting your provider directly.
At Great Speech, we proudly accept insurance coverage from the following providers:
- Cigna Medicare & Commercia
- Molina Healthcare Florida
- BCBSIL Medicare & Commercial
- Geisinger
- Healthnet
- NAMM / Optum CA
- Zenith American
- Devoted Health Plans Florida
- CarePlus healthcare plans Florida
- AVMed
- Amerigroup New Jersey
- Aetna Medical Solutions Texas.
- Careington
- Dialcare
- Healthcare Highways
If your insurance isn't listed above, you may want to contact them to see if your plan provides out-of-network benefits that could reduce your cost for therapy. We also accept HSA/FSA and private pay options.
Getting Started with Great Speech
Getting started on the path to improved communication, increased independence, and higher confidence begins with a simple introductory call. We aim to connect you with your perfectly matched speech and language pathologist within 3 days of your initial call. Your assigned speech therapist will be with you, supporting and guiding you, every step of the way.
Each of our therapists are highly-specialized, allowing our clients to be matched to address their specific communication needs. This level of specialization allows us to deliver the best service possible.