Broca aphasia (expressive aphasia):
Broca aphasia mainly affects the ability to produce speech. Aphasia patients often speak very slowly, seem to take a long time to order their thoughts, or seem unable to find the right words. Any communication takes place in “telegraphic speech”: Affected patients speak in sentences containing only one or two words, often with grammatical errors. Also articulation of words (dysarthria) reading and writing are affected.
Speech comprehension is often not or only partially affected.
Many of those who are affected are impatient with the inability to express themselves or with the long-time communication needs. This can reduce verbal communication even more.
Wernicke aphasia (sensory aphasia):
Patients with Wernicke aphasia often talk a lot and use words incorrectly. They do not realize that their speech lacks coherence and meaning.
Patients also struggle to understand others, to read, and to write. Sometimes, this means verbal communication is impossible. Non-verbal communication is possible to a certain extent.
Affected patients often respond to their surroundings with severe incomprehension. They cannot understand why the person they are talking to cannot understand them.
Amnesic aphasia:
Amnesic aphasia mainly affects the ability to find the rights words. Speech comprehension, reading, and writing are usually only moderately affected. Communication with the patient is reasonably easy.
Global aphasia:
Severe strokes affecting the middle cerebral artery (Arteria Cerebri Media) can cause both expressive and sensory aphasia, resulting in a complete loss of both the ability to speak and to understand speech. Affected patients use many automatisms, repeat phrases over and over, or speak little to not at all. Reading, writing, and body language are also affected.
This makes communicating with stroke survivors affected by global aphasia extremely difficult and requires patience and empathy from those involved.