This is a fictional letter written to Adam, the son of a Wernicke's aphasia patient; from his sister Kara.

 

Dear Adam,

Congratulations on making captain your senior year. Dad, Mom and I are so proud of you. You have worked so hard and you deserve everything you have worked for over the years. I can't believe my brother, the scrawny little high school quarterback would actually play and start for Ohio State and make captain his senior year. You have grown up so fast and the family is so proud of your many accomplishments.  I only hope your senior year is the best yet and you lead your team to a bowl win this year. We hope to make it to every game next year. Hopefully mom will be able to come as well. 

Speaking of mom, she has made vast improvements, since the last time you were in over Christmas break. I know it is hard not being able to see her, trust me I know. It is hard for me as well.  But know that she would want you to stay there and work on your degree and football and not worry about her.  I recently had a meeting with my boss and she is allowing me 1 month of vacation, so I can help dad with mom. Poor dad, he is so worn out, I am glad I can help take the burden off  his shoulders for awhile.  She needs constant care right now and I would rather offer the care than have strangers offer the care. Anyways, since I have been here for a week, I have seen vast improvements since the last time I was here. I have currently been taking her to all of her speech therapy and physical therapy appointments. As you know, Dad took mom to her appointments in the beginning. He first took her to her speech therapy sessions where he first met the therapist. Her name is Karen Reeves and she has been very helpful providing dad with information about the disorder. About a week after mom's stroke, Karen set up an interview appointment with dad and it really calmed him down as well as made him more positive. As you know he was so upset when this first happened he was a mess. He was so scared that him and mom were never going to be able to communicate again but she provided dad with helpful information. She provided dad a URL that provided him with useful information about her profession as well as information about mom's disorder. Here is the address if  you want to check it out.http://mupfc.marshall.edu/~butcher28/Webliography.html. She also showed dad a powerpoint presentation about Wernickes aphasia and symptoms of the disorder. This answered several of dads questions he had about the disorder and what problems may occur. I know you are probably interested in learning more about mom's condition, so I provided you with a pamphlet that the therapist provided dad. It is very helpful and also lists other websites to visit to learn more about the disorder. So check it out when you have time, I think it will answer several questions you have about what caused the disorder and why mom's speech is the way it is. I also included a poem along with the pamphlet. The speech pathologist provided dad with this fictional poem to show how mom might be feeling. She created it herself after dealing with several patients suffering wernickes aphasia.  It is interesting to read and know that mom is going through a hard time as well. Also please feel free to

e-mail me and dad any chance you get. E-mail has allowed Dad and me to write each other everyday and it is a lot faster and easier to communicate than letters. This was a great way dad could update me on moms doctors appointments and speech therapy sessions,  while I was at work.

Well I need to get going. I have to take mom to her speech therapy session and then I have to make dinner for the family. I hope your coach gives you a weekend off as soon as possible. Dad wants to take you out to dinner to congratulate you on making captain. I hope your week goes well and good luck with your midterms. I know you will be stressed but I know you will do great on your tests. Give us a call here at the house, to let us know how everything is going.

I love and miss you

Love your little but older sister

Kara

Here is a list of my references

Aphasia Institute (n.d.). Communicating with a person with aphasia. Retrieved February 24, 2005, from http://www.aphasia.ca/training/tips.html

Brookshire, R.H. ( 2003). Aphasia caused by destruction of cortical centers for language. In R.H. Brookshire (Eds.),  Introduction to neurogenic communication disorders. (pp. 153-164). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Inc.

 Ferrand, C.T., & Bloom, R.L.  (1997). Communication disorders following focal brain damage. In R. Bloom & C. Ferrand (Eds.), Introduction to organic and neurogenic disorders of communication: Current scope of practice (pp. 139-165). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Fridriksson, J., & Holland, A. (2001). Aphasia management during the early phases of recovery following stroke.  American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10(1), 19-26. Retrieved February 18, 2005, from the Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition database.

Hedge, M.N. (1995). Aphasia: what it is and what it is not. In M.N. Hedge (Eds.) Introduction to communication disorders. (pp. 372-380). Austin, TX: Pro-ed.

National Aphasia Association.  Aphasia fact sheet. (1999). Retrieved March 1, 2005 from http://www.aphasia.org

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (1997). Aphasia. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.asp

This is a fictional interview between three characters, a speech-language pathologist, a patient with Wernicke's aphasia and a husband of the woman with Wernicke's aphasia. Sarah, age 48 suffered a left-hemispheric stroke affecting Wernicke's area which resulted in Wernicke's aphasia. This interview is intended to give the reader a basic idea of how someone with Wernicke's aphasia may display fluent and effortless speech but ramble with no purpose or meaning.
SLP: Hi Sarah, I'm glad you came here today to talk to me.

Sarah: Well you know me I always sike to alk to people. Willing to itlle and ottle with whomever. Shew wears me out though ittling and ottling.

SLP: Yes, I always like to talk to people too. Talking to people all the time tends to wear me out, especially when I have had a busy day.
SLP: So how are you feeling today Sarah? You look so much better than the time I saw you in the hospital 2 days after your stroke.

Sarah:  Never been tebber. It has been a good day yesterday. It is so sinny and ot a oud in the sigh today.

SLP: Yes I know it is a beautiful day outside. I love sunny days too.
SLP: Jon, told me he was coming today. I guess he is still in the waiting room filling out papers.

Sarah: Yes,  sometimes he wizzles around and  waits and waits but then he is not right and I know he is just a waping away.

SLP: Well if you excuse me, I am going to talk to your husband, but I will be back in a few minutes.

Sarah: I will be wipping right here and sikling away I guess.
 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

SLP: Hi Jon, I am so glad you came today. I love when the family takes an effort to get involved with the therapy process. It really helps the client in their struggle.

Jon: Well I just want to do whatever is best for my wife. I know she is going through a hard time right now following her stroke and my daughter and I want to do whatever is best for her. So did you get a chance to talk to her today? Do you think her speech is getting better?

SLP: Yes, I did get to talk to your wife today for a few minutes. Although she was very fluent in her speech, her responses were full of jargon and I don't believe she understood me. This is a common characteristic though of Wernicke's aphasia. (Bloom).

 Jon: Does my wife have any awareness of what she is doing? Is she is aware that she doesn't make any sense with her speech?

SLP: At this point in her recovery I don't think she is aware that she has a communication problem. A place in her brain known as Wernicke's area has been damaged.  This area is responsible for comprehending and formulating written and spoken language. (Bloom). This is why she can't understand us when we are speaking and why she speaks the way she does. Your wife may actually feel like she is having equal participation in a conversation.

Jon: This is so frustrating to deal with. I want to be able to communicate with my wife but I can't because she doesn't understand me at all. I just want to yell at her and say can you not hear yourself. Do you not understand you are speaking strange? But I know by yelling at her it would only make the situation worse. My daughter is also frustrated, she is 6 hours away and it upsets her so much because she feels she can’t have a meaningful conversation with her mom.

SLP: I see this in many families. Many family members become frustrated. This is a very difficult and trying time for your family.  If you listen to your wife's speech there is a pattern. The structure of her speech is normal. She has normal stress on words and speaks fluently, but the content of her speech is affected. Your wife speaks in jargon. Her speech contains neologisms (made up words) and verbal paraphasias( words that are similar for the intended word).

Jon: yeah I have noticed several made up words and most of her speech doesn't make sense to me at all. Most of it sounds like jibberish and I can understand children better. Honestly, will my wife ever get better.

SLP: Well, I am not saying she will ever get back to normal, but Wernicke's aphasia patients can progress. Hopefully by her coming to therapy she will progress and become a more functional communicator where you and your family can understand her better.

Jon: Well thank you very much. You have answered some questions for me and I feel our family will get through this hard time.

SLP: Here is my card with my number and e-mail address. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me and I will try my best to answer them as fast as I can.

Jon: Thank you so much. I will see you next week for therapy.

This is a fictional pamphlet that is created by an SLP. This pamphlet could be given out in a doctors office or in a Speech and Hearing Clinic to inform the public or families about Wernicke's aphaisa and tips on how to communicate with one another.

Is someone you love suffering from

Wernicke's aphasia?

What you need to know about

 Wernicke's aphasia.

What is Wernicke's aphasia?

Wernicke's aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impair a person's ability to process language but does not affect intelligence. (NAA).

Wernicke's aphasia is a fluent syndrome associated with lesions in the auditory cortex known as wernicke's area. (Bloom, 1997).

Speech Characteristics

• Fluent effortless speech
• Logorrhea (excessive use of words)
• Verbal paraphasias (pencil for pen)
• Literal paraphasias (Totebook for notebook)
• Neologisms (made up words) (Bloom, 1997).

Comprehension Deficits

• Auditory comprehension is usually severely impaired in patients with Wernicke's aphasia. This means they can not understand what they hear.
• Reading comprehension is usually impaired and written performance is variable. (Bloom, 1997). THis means they have trouble understanding what they read.

How to Communicate with Loved Ones

family involvement is very important. You can help your loved ones by...

• Using short, uncomplicated sentences.
• Repeating the content words or writing down key words.
• Maintaining a natural conversation manner appropriate for an adult.
•  Minimizing distractions, such as blaring radio, whenever possible.
• Include the person with aphasia in conversations. (Birner & Fodor).
• Encouraging any type of communication, whether it is speech, gesture, pointing, or drawing.
• Avoiding correcting the individual's speech.
• Allowing the individual plenty of time to talk (Aphasia).

You Aren't Alone

More than 100,000 Americans acquire the disorder each year. However, most people have never heard of it. (NAA).

 

For more Information contact:

a speech pathologist in your area visit: http://www.asha.org

National Aphasia Association http://www.aphasia.org

NIDCD http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.asp

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