If you know someone with aphasia – or perhaps if you have aphasia, you’ve probably noticed that words don’t always come out as planned. Someone might mean to say the word “desk” but instead say “chair” or “tesk” or even a nonsense word like “joom.” It can help to know some common errors for people with aphasia. Semantic Paraphasia Saying one word in place of another Example: saying “hammer” for “flashlight” Phonemic Paraphasia Saying something that sounds similar to the intended word Example: saying “knike” for “knife” Neologism Using an invented word or a non-real word Example: saying “fibb ..read more

Many family members, friends, and caregivers report difficulty talking to their loved ones with aphasia. But when you have aphasia, it’s more important than ever to have conversations! Here are a few tips for how to talk to a stroke survivor with communication difficulties. Be Patient Patience is everything – this is the most important tip! People with aphasia often need extra time to think of the right words or process what you’ve said. Stay engaged, keep eye contact, but stay quiet. Make sure you’re talking with the person, rather than for them. If you try to finish their sentences, it can ..read more

There are many different types of aphasia. Language is stored in several areas of the brain, so the type of language difficulty someone has depends on the part of the brain that was affected. In reality, everyone’s brain is different, and each aphasia is slightly different too. Sometimes people will have aphasia that does not fit neatly into one of these categories. This is especially true for people who are multilingual, or people who are left-handed. Nonetheless, learning about common types of aphasia can be helpful. Blumenfeld’s “Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases” has a diagram that illu ..read more

More people have aphasia than cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or muscular dystrophy. But very few people have heard the term "aphasia" or can tell someone what it is... Aphasia is a language disorder, typically due to stroke, brain tumor, or brain injury. It does NOT affect intelligence, but it does make it difficult to connect thoughts to words. As a simplified way of thinking about it... Imagine that someone drops you into a foreign country where you don't speak the language. You would still know what an apple is and how a car works (your intelligence is intact ..read more

1) Affordability We believe that communication is a basic human right. Atlas is dedicated to providing high-quality aphasia therapy at a low hourly cost. You can use Atlas to supplement your current speech therapy, or to continue services after medical insurance runs out. We say "no" to the plateau! 2) Expertise Atlas works exclusively with people with aphasia. This is our specialty. We provide high quality treatment across all language domains, including expressive language, auditory comprehension, reading, and writing. (These are separate skills!) 3) Individualized Therapy Personalized treat ..read more

There are lots of ways to communicate. Talking is one method – but it’s only one way, of many. If you’ve ever visited a foreign country where you didn’t speak the language, you’ve probably used quite a few different methods to get your point across. Gestures, a quizzical look, a shrug, pointing to a map, or writing the name of a street... Without saying a single word, you can convey thoughts and questions, such as “I’m staying at this hotel for 3 nights” or “Can you give me directions to the Van Gough Museum?” Or perhaps you do know a bit of Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, or whatever the l ..read more