June is Aphasia Awareness Month … but do you know what aphasia is?

June is Aphasia Awareness Month, but if you don’t know what aphasia is, you are not alone.

An estimated 1/3 of people who have a stroke will experience aphasia – i.e. roughly 29,000 New Zealanders are living with aphasia.

However, awareness is low in New Zealand and internationally. A 2013 New Zealand study suggested only 1.5% of the general population and 21% of those in the health care sector had basic knowledge of aphasia.

Aphasia is a disorder of communication, where speaking, reading, writing and/or understanding language is impacted. Aphasia is caused by damage to the language centre in the brain (usually in the left hemisphere), most commonly due to stroke. Brain injury, tumour and infection can also result in aphasia. Each person with aphasia will be slightly different in their communications.

Kate Milford, one of the Founding Trustees of Aphasia NZ says, “I think awareness is low for a few reasons. Aphasia is a difficult concept to get your head around, people with aphasia may withdraw from social events, and it’s difficult to explain to other people. People with aphasia agree, that until you’ve met it, you just don’t get it.”

Awareness and knowledge matter, as it is the response of others, that can make a positive difference. Milford notes, “other people CAN help – they can adapt their communication and get to know the person’s own way of communicating.”

For more information and/or support for aphasia, individuals should seek out a local Speech Language Therapist via their GP, and/or go to aphasia.org.nz.