Fact 2. Symptoms: The Telltale Signs of Expressive Aphasia
Manifestations of Expressive Aphasia primarily revolve around difficulties in speech and language production. Affected individuals find it challenging to articulate their thoughts into spoken or written words, even though their comprehension capabilities generally remain unaffected.
One significant sign is non-fluent speech. People with Expressive Aphasia often have speech that is labored and broken. They might speak in short phrases, often omitting smaller, less crucial words such as “is,” “and,” or “the.” The utterances, although minimal, typically preserve meaning, providing a testament to the individuals’ preserved comprehension.
Writing skills also take a hit in those with Expressive Aphasia. They may struggle with written language, displaying similar difficulties as they do with spoken speech. Forming coherent sentences becomes a strenuous task, and their writing might mirror their speech – brief, disjointed, yet meaningful.
Another common symptom is agrammatism, where individuals have difficulty using or understanding grammar. This challenge can reflect in both their speech and writing, where they might omit function words (e.g., prepositions and conjunctions) and inflectional endings of words (e.g., -ing, -ed), making their language output seem telegraphic.
Individuals with Expressive Aphasia might also struggle with articulation due to apraxia, a motor speech disorder. Despite having the physical capacity to move their speech muscles, they may have problems planning these movements for speech. (2)
