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VA Speech-Language Pathology

June is National Aphasia Awareness month and Dysphagia Awareness month


June is recognized as both Aphasia Awareness Month and Dysphagia Awareness Month, aiming to raise awareness about these conditions and support those affected by them.

Aphasia Awareness Month

Aphasia (uh-FAY-zhuh) is a communication disorder that can make it hard to express your thoughts and understand others.  It does not affect your intelligence. Aphasia is usually caused by a stroke but can be caused by brain injury, tumor, or neurologic disease.

When you have aphasia, you may have trouble:

  • Speaking
  • Understanding what others say
  • Reading
  • Writing

VA can assist - following resources can help you.

  • Speech-Language Pathologists provide communication treatment for Veterans with aphasia.
  • Treatment is offered right after aphasia begins and improvement can go on for many years.
  • VA enrolled Veterans with aphasia can receive inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, and treatment over telehealth.
  • Treatments are tailored to the Veterans and will help them get back their language ability and come up with effective new ways to communicate.
  • Some VA facilities offer communication and support groups for Veterans living with aphasia.

Aphasia can be isolating. However, Veterans living with aphasia are not alone. VA Speech-Language Pathologists provide treatment to thousands of Veterans living with aphasia each year.

Dysarthria

Dysarthria (duh-SAAR-three-uh) is a speech disorder caused by weakness or lack of control of the muscles used for speech production. It does not affect your intelligence. Dysarthria may be caused by a stroke or brain injury. It can also be caused by progressive diseases like Parkinson disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

When you have dysarthria, you may have trouble with the following:

  • Speaking clearly
  • Being quiet or hard to hear in conversation
  • Running out of breath when they speaking
  • Sounding harsh, raspy, or breathy when speaking
  • Being hard to understand in background noise
  • Struggling to control your tone of voice, volume, or timing between words
  • Speaking at an unusual rate (could be slow and halting or very fast)

VA can assist - following resources can help you.

  • Speech-Language Pathologists provide communication treatment to Veterans with dysarthria
  • Treatment is offered right after dysarthria begins but can be given at any time if a person wants to improve their communication
  • VA enrolled Veterans with dysarthria can receive inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, and treatment over telehealth.
  • Treatments are tailored to the Veteran and will help them get back their language ability and come up with effective new ways to communicate 

Dysarthria can be isolating. However, Veterans living with dysarthria are not alone. VA Speech-Language Pathologists provide treatment to thousands of Veterans living with dysarthria each year.  



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