The Aphasia Alliance’s vision is a world where everyone with aphasia gets the support and understanding they need.
The Aphasia Alliance is a coalition of key organisations from all over the UK that work in the field of aphasia.
Aphasia (sometimes called dysphasia) is a communication disability that occurs when the language centres of the brain are damaged. It is most often caused by stroke, but can also be caused by a brain haemorrhage, brain tumour or other neurological conditions.
Aphasia affects the person’s ability to find the words they want to express themselves, both in speech and writing. It may also affect their ability to understand the written and spoken word.
It does not affect intelligence, although sometimes people think it does.
In its severest form the person with aphasia may have very little, or no, speech and find it difficult to follow a simple conversation. Aphasia [also known as Dysphasia] can be very mild, and sometimes can only affect one form of communication, such as reading or speaking, but even mild aphasia leads to extreme frustration. Most commonly it affects several aspects of communication at the same time.
Aphasia affects not only the person with it but has an impact on family and friends as well.
Aphasia is a hidden disability. This is because there is often no visual sign that someone with aphasia has a disability. People may experience social exclusion as a result of aphasia and this means that they remain difficult to identify.
