Broca's Aphasia Observation

Aphasia is an acquired neurological disorder results from damage to the brain. Aphasia has different disorders, all which can have varying degrees and impairments. The main areas aphasia affects are spoken expressive language, spoken comprehension of language, written expression, and reading comprehension. Aphasia can be caused by a variety of brain injuries such as brain tumors, surgery, and traumatic brain injury. The most common cause of aphasia however is a stroke, with up to 50% of survivors experiencing some type of aphasia (Maher 2010). With a great number of people who experience aphasia, there is not just one treatment that helps all. Treatment plans for those who have aphasia are individualized to each person based on the specific

(Damage to this area would result in, Broca’s Aphasia; the inability to use or understand written or spoken words. People who suffer from this condition may understand what they are wanting to say, but are unable to say it in clarity. Such as “bot” instead of “box”

During the clinical observations I observed a 60-year-old man whose clinical diagnosis is non-fluent aphasia. To improve on his conversation skills he has worked with the clinician using conversational therapy. When viewing the session, the client expressed an understanding when asked questions on cars and movies. Most of the time he was intelligible, but it becomes hard to understand him when he stops to retrieve a word. As this takes place, he uses SAF or AAC’s triggering for the word he did not remember. His AAC’s consisted of unaided and aided communication systems using his body to receive kinesthetic feedbacks and his phone. He not only expressed his ideas, but demonstrates an interest on his goals for this session and semester. By asking

This treatment was applied to eight subjects with a diagnosis of Broca’s aphasia, as well as to a control group of 20 with matched ages and education levels.

Assessing and treating people with health impairments is a challenge faced by health providers throughout the world. In an attempt to create a standardized approach to classifications, terminology, and functional descriptions, the World Health Organization created the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) first as a trial in 1980 as the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps, or ICIDH (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012), and then fully published it in 2001 under its current title. In what was considered a “radical shift” of focus from the cause of the disease or disorder to the impact of the disease or disorder (World Health Organization, 2002), the ICF is written from the perspective of ability versus disability. Specifically, it looks at health and functioning in society rather than just limitations, or disabilities. To accomplish this, the ICF is structured around four broad components related to health. These components are (a) health conditions (referring to disorders or disease) which then affect (b) body functions and structure (impairment), (c) activities (e.g., tasks and actions by an individual), and (d) participation (involvement in life situations) with additional consideration for the interdependence and impact of (e) environmental factors and (f) personal factors (Chapey, 2008; CDC, 2012). The three aspects of (a)

Overall, in these other fields as well as through its limited use in speech therapy settings, AAT has been deemed as an effective method for patient therapy. Macauley noted that the use of therapy dogs was effective at reducing anxiety in psychiatric patients (Macauley, 2006, p. 363). Similar testing has been done with patients who have aphasia. In these studies patients received a semester of treatment in a traditional setting and then a semester with AAT based speech therapy. After each semester, clients were given a questionnaire to fill out to obtain information about their sessions in specific regards to the patient’s motivation and performance. The questionnaires also assessed communication with the clinician and the clinician’s preparedness. After careful examination of these questionnaires it was found that clients were happier with the results of the session and believed that they made more progress in sessions that used animal therapy. Another study that was completed on this topic focused on the amount of attempts towards communication

Juan’s will be able to complete simple sentence completion and/or phrase completion with minimal cueing with 80% accuracy. Sentence production program for Broca’s Aphasia and Conversational Scripts are two therapy activities that can be utilized to assist Juan’s speech. For the sentence production program the clinician’s goal is to improve Juan’s statements in request, questions and conversing. This intervention is utilized to improve the client’s non-fluent ability. There is type A and type B, but in this case Juan has a mild aphasia which falls under type A.

It was thought provoking experience while caring patients with impaired communication which arose many questions to be researched. In general, it is interesting and challenging for nurses to assess, diagnose and care neurologically ill patients due to their different type of issues for example functional, sensory, motor problems one at time or combined together. It was challenging to work with stroke patients who became aphasic after stroke. ‘Aphasia is the loss of the ability to understand or formulate language which is caused by brain

Speech-Language Pathology has been around since about the 1940's. It is traced back to after World War II when thousands of young servicemen and women returned with noise-induced hearing loss. The United States Government responded by creating hearing rehabilitation programs at the military hospitals where hearing aid procedures were standardized across the country. So what exactly is Speech-Language Pathology? Have there been many Speech Pathology developments over the years, and who are some of the key players? Yes, due to an increase in the need for new advancements, there have been many new developments over the years.

To promote language growth in therapy, I could involve the client and caregiver in determining goals and expectations for treatment. I could use the techniques and methods to engage the brain and encourage making connections to subjects the client is interested in. I should use reassuring statements throughout treatment to positively reinforce the client.

Broca’s Aphasia is a type of non-fluent disorder that results from damage to the frontal lobe of the human brain that is responsible for language production. The frontal lobe of the brain is known as the Broca’s area named after Paul Broca in 1864 (Bartels, 2012). Paul Broca was a French neuroanatomist who discovered the Broca’s area. Broca’s findings resulted from several consultations with a person who has Broca’s Aphasia. The person was given the name Tan as ‘tan’ was the only word he could say. After Tan died, Broca conducted an autopsy of Tan’s brain and noticed the damage to his left hemisphere of the brain, now known as the Broca’s area (Bartels, 2012).

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NIH), “aphasia may occur suddenly or progressively, depending on the type and location of brain tissue involved. Primary signs of the disorder include difficulty in expressing oneself when speaking; trouble understanding speech and it is estimated that about 1 million people in the United States today suffer from aphasia. The type and severity of language dysfunction depend on the precise location and extent of the damaged brain tissue. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) estimates that “approximately 1 million people, or 1 in 250 in the United States today, suffer from aphasia.” And “fifteen percent of individuals under the age of 65 experience aphasia; this percentage increases to 43% for individuals 85 years of age and older” (Engelter et al.,

Often times people are affected by brain damage, which include symptoms of shortened attention span, inability to sense time and paralysis. One of these symptoms can also be aphasia, which is the inability to interact using spoken, written, or sign language. The majority of people affected with this neurological disorder experience difficulty in basic tasks, such as reading and writing. 10 Although thousands are affected in various ways, there are currently several channels of treatment administered by medical professionals. Through the use of improving technology, medical professionals are better understanding the disorder, allowing them to develop better treatment practices.

According to National Aphasia Association, n.d., in an article Aphasia Definitions it states ,“Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain-most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals. But brain injuries resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, from brain tumors, or from infections”.

Pierre Paul Broca revolutionized our modern understanding of the imperative role neuronal lesions have in determining the functionality of an individual’s speaking abilities. Specifically, his greatest contribution relates to the locating of aphasia within the cerebral cortex, and determining which region of the brain was specialized for producing articulate speech. Eventually classified as Broca’s area (Page 75), it exists upon the left frontal lobe, and predominately functions to regulate and encourage speaking abilities. Healthy individuals typically exhibit normal electrochemical impulses during audible and unintelligible episodes of communication, but extensive traumatic brain injury or genetic abnormalities could possible result in a