IUBio

Broca's Aphasia Question

Gary Fisk fisk at eyes.uab.edu
Fri May 17 17:29:13 EST 1996


In article <4ng7h6$ge3 at carbon.cudenver.edu>, cddugan at ouray.cudenver.edu (
) wrote:

>         A student in my Biology of Consciousness class asked if persons
> with Broca's Aphasia would suffer similar communication difficulties if 
> they used hand sign language instead of speech.
> 
>         Does anyone know the answer to this student's question?  If you 
> do please post or email.  

Language and speech are not necessarily the same thing.  When strictly
defined, Broca's aphasia is a *language* disorder, so sign language and
written communication should be affected in a Broca's aphasic person as
well as spoken language.  If someone could not speak but could still
perform good written language it would be diagnosed as a "speech
apraxia".  This means that the motor systems involved in speech are
disrupted, but language is still intact.

Of course, in the real world Broca's aphasia tends to be messier than the
textbook definition.  Broca's aphasia and speech apraxia often occur
together and are not easily separable. So the real world presentation of
nonspoken language in someone diagnosed with Broca's aphasia might vary
quite a bit.  

GF

-- 
Gary Fisk, Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
** I am not a spokesperson for my employer or anyone else **



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