Childhood aphasia occurs when the language centers of the brain are damaged. It occurs more in boys than girls it occurs may result from: stroke, syndrome that affect the brain (e.g.: Landau- kleffner syndrome), traumatic brain injury or brain tumour. If it caused by stroke, the stroke may occur in utero, prenatally (during or within the first month after birth) or any time throughout childhood.
In the case of childhood aphasia we mainly see the symptoms of trouble to finding words, getting stuck on a word and repeating its in multiple times, mixing up letters in a word (eg: “vlat or flat”), substituting words (eg: calling a computer a “TV”), mutism, especially in the period immediately after the brain damage. Trouble to initiating speech, problems with grammar and syntax, difficulty with reading and writing and trouble with comprehension.The main implications of childhood aphasia for language and communication, in which, the child who has acquired language, stroke may affecting language areas; in child who has not yet acquired language, stroke in either brain hemisphere typically causes language delay & the children’s language outcomes are better if the stroke occurs earlier than later in childhood.
Speech language therapist work on expressive, receptive and nonverbal communication. The speech therapy targets and goals may focused on communication strategies, which help to create meaningful interactions between child and his or her parent, teacher, friends etc… word finding skills, grammar and syntax, literacy (reading and writing), listening and comprehension, pragmatic and social communication. Agumentive and alternative communication system is very useful to aphasic kids.
The parent and teachers have to be patient with the apasic kids and provide adequate time for child to attempt and fix his or her words. Provide a hint when he or she seems stuck and could use help, provide image or lettersfor you and the child to point at while communicating, use gestures and encourage gestures from the child or ask the child to draw what they are having trouble to saying.
