Seek Help from Home Health Care to Work Through Aphasia After a Stroke

When someone suffers a stroke, the brain lacks oxygen in some areas, causing damage to surrounding brain cells. The brain cells cannot be replaced or repaired, but the brain can re-learn things. Aphasia is the result of damage caused to the cells on the left side of the brain, or the communication center. As a result, the person will have trouble communicating, even if they do not lack intellect from the injury. Aphasia is a common disorder for people recovering from a stroke.

What Is Aphasia?

Aphasia affects one out of three stroke survivors. It is a common disorder affecting the patient’s ability to understand and find the words to communicate. Often, patients with Aphasia can no longer read and write. As a result, they may have trouble finding the right words, forming sentences, or repeating the same word over and over again.

Early Treatment and Therapy Are Vital

Recovery from Aphasia is possible, and it comes with a series of therapy sessions focusing on speech, language, numbers, reading, and writing. Meeting with specialized therapists early and frequently in the healing process will result in the highest chances of recovery. Each patient will improve at their own pace based on the severity of the disorder, age, and therapy practices.

Home therapy sessions are convenient for stroke patients, as many also have physical challenges they must overcome due to the stroke. In addition, daily practice at home between therapy sessions will retrain the brain through repetition and familiarity. The more the patient puts into the assigned therapy tasks, the more likely they will see a progression.

Some therapy sessions may look like this:

• Matching words to pictures
• Learning to read through rhyming words
• Repeating and studying the names of your family members
• Counting to 10
• Identifying numbers and letters
• Learning alternative ways to communicate

Something important to remember about Aphasia is that the patient’s intelligence is not affected. When the sentences come out jumbled and incoherent, the patient is just as frustrated as the person trying to understand them. Patience, perseverance, and dedication to therapy give Aphasia patients the best chance of recovery.

If you know someone recovering from a stroke, learn about the home therapy techniques that can help rehabilitate your loved one.  Bonita Springs Healthcare Services have trained Home Health professionals that can provide your loved one with compassionate care and vital therapy while they recover from their stroke. Please call us today to learn more.