A person who had a stroke will most likely experience speech disturbance, known as aphasia.
The kind of aphasia that Mr. Jones may be suffering depends on the pattern of symptoms that he is exhibiting. If the damage occurred primarily in the Broca’s area, Mr. Jones’ speech is broken and jumbled.
Brocha’s aphasia or expressive aphasia will cause Mr. Jones to have a severe problem with word access and inability to organize speech movements to express his thoughts. His “speech pattern is labored and halting” and has a shortcut grammar such as “sit chair?” instead of “is it all right if I sit in that chair?”(CaregiverNJ, 2005).Although the speech of individuals with Broca’s aphasia are frequently short and seems telegraphic, they can produce meaningful words, thus characterizing this type of aphasia as nonfluent (NIDCD, 2007). What frustrates an individual with Broca’s aphasia more is that they are aware of their speech impairment.
The Broca’s area is located at the frontal lobe of the brain, and is responsible for the language function – speech, writing and comprehension. It is also important for body movement hence a “right-sided weakness or paralysis of the arm and leg” (NIDCD, 2007) can also be manifested by Mr. Jones.On the other hand, if Mr.
Jones is having trouble in comprehending spoken and written language, he is suffering from Wernicke’s aphasia, also known as receptive aphasia or fluent aphasia. Because of severe comprehension problems, individuals with this type of aphasia are unaware that they are creating fluent, but meaningless speech (CaregiverNJ, 2005).They form long speech with unnecessary words that are devoid of meaning. Moreover, individuals with Wernicke’s aphasia usually do not suffer body weakness unlike those with Broca’s aphasia, because the damage in the temporal lobe of their brain is not within the region that control movement.REFERENCESCaregiverNJ (2005). Caregivers Guide: Section 3.
6: Speech Changes [Electronic Version]. Retrieved June 23, 2007, from State of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Web site: http://www.state.nj.
us/caregivernj/basic/guide/pg3.6-speech.shtmlNIDCD (2007). Aphasia [Electronic Version].
Retrieved June 23, 2007, from National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Web site: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.asp
