What are the common difficulties faced by patients after stroke?

Communication and swallowing problems are both common after a stroke. Swallowing problems can put you at risk of infection and affect your enjoyment of food. The following communication difficulties are commonly found in individuals after a stroke-

• Expressive Aphasia- speaking, including speaking any words or saying the correct word
• Dysarthria- forming words and speech sounds due to weak muscles in your mouth
• Dyspraxia- moving the muscles needed for speech in the correct order and sequence
• Dyslexia – reading difficulty
• Dysgraphia – writing difficulty

What are the treatment options for articulation difficulties after stroke?

First, Speech Therapists will assess people with communication difficulties and work around how to help people to overcome and/or adopt to the communication difficulty.

Weak muscle is common after stroke and it may affect the accuracy of your production of sounds, words and sentences. Your speech and language therapist may also give you advice on body positioning and where your tongue, lips and jaw should go when producing particular sounds. Speech therapy involved the training of the range of movement, speech and strength of your oral muscles. These include teaching where and how your tongue, lips, jaw should go when producing particular sounds. Therapy may also involve breathing exercises and how to plan pauses within sentences to help with your speaking.