Aphasia

definition of aphasia - from National aphasia association http://www.aphasia.org/
a•pha•sia (uh-fay'-zhuh) n. An impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually acquired as a result of a stroke or other brain injury.

Stroke Survivors Can chat too

Where to Go to Chat with Others

The Aphasia mailing list was set up to share information, experiences, questions, knowledge, feelings, etc. with respect to Aphasia.
Although communication will be in written English which may be a problem for many persons with Aphasia, they are specifically encouraged to join and contribute to the list.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Aphasia/

What is Verbal Apraxia?

Verbal apraxia (also known as, Apraxia of Speech or AOS) is a disorder that affects the muscles involved with producing speech. These muscles include the jaw, lips, tongue, respiratory system (lungs), and vocal folds (vocal cords).

People with verbal apraxia have difficulty initiating, coordinating, or sequencing the muscle movements necessary to speak.

An individual affected by verbal apraxia knows what they want to say, but cannot transfer the message from their brain to the oral muscles.

How does this "Message Transmission" work?

The process begins by thinking of what you would like to say. The brain then sends this information to your lips, tongue, and jaw muscles. These messages inform the oral muscles on how to move.

If the messages are received the oral muscles carry out their job and create a sequence of sounds that will form a spoken sentence.

However, when afflicted with verbal apraxia, these messages are "interrupted" which causes the affected person to struggle for the right oral movements necessary to articulate meaningful sounds and words.

It is important to note that as with apraxia, verbal apraxia is a planning/programming disorder. The oral muscles involved with producing speech are not affected by any weakness.

Links

Aphasia family village - resources - links etc.
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/Lib_apha.htm

Stroke Family Recovery Kits - non profit - have products to help especially with the speech part
http://www.strokefamily.org/worldaccess.html

NIDCD National Institute on deafness and other communication disorders
- very informative website with moocho infomration on aphasia
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.htm

aphasia hope foundation and network
http://www.aphasiahope.org/index.jsp

speech therapy on video - very very informative on different speech disorders
http://www.speech-therapy-on-video.com/