Do you know what it is? Are you sure? Do you know where it came from? Do you know what it does, or do you know if it can be fixed? Do you care? Can you get it too? Is it a virus? Does it get worse, or does it get better? Will chicken soup make it better? Do only men get it, or just women, or both? Just older people get it? Do doctors ever get it? Can you get it by reading this website? Are you sure?

Let's find out! I said that I would talk about what we can do, and I will, but before we do I think we should talk about "what it is" and "what it isn't", and the difference between aphasia and Aphasia...according to Ghosters.

Most people have never heard about it, until someone in their family or a friend acquires aphasia. Even those that do understand...really don't. Someone said that aphasia is like being a "stranger in a strange land" and, of course, it is, but I think it's even worse. For those that came from a different country people assume that they cannot talk just the way everyone else does, but they accept that, and some others even like it. However, if someone came from "right here" and always could communicate "normally" but...suddenly cannot anymore they assume that they are incompetent, or worse. Not too many years ago, like the early 1900's, those afflicted were put into a mental "rest home" until they died. Today, of course, we do not put them in a mental "rest home" anymore, but most "normal" people still have a problem with any person that has a mental "problem". Yes, I did say that, and yes, that is the way it is. "Normal" people only like "normal" people. I'm sorry, but that's true.

Before I give you the definitions (Webster's and Ghosters') this is important: aphasia impairs language comprehension and expression...period! This does not mean that we can't think. Intelligence has not changed at all. We can think. We can dream. We can love. We understand just like we did before, but we just have a difficult time with various forms of communication, like speaking, reading, writing or understanding the speech of others. The inability to write is commonly termed agraphia. The use of speech to communicate is unique to humans, and the fact that we can't  ultimately causes heartbreak and can be devastating for those afflicted with aphasia.

Typically, those that have aphasia have had a stroke...most of them, but also can happen because of a brain injury. The Webster's definition of aphasia looks like this:

Aphasia: A-pha-sia (uh-fay-zhuh) n. An impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually  acquired as a result of a stroke or other brain injury.

Yes, that's the way it is with Webster's, but Ghosters' definition looks a
little different:

Aphasia: An impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words usually acquired as a result of a stroke or other injury (so far so good) and aphasia is also contagious, causing others to forget addresses or telephone numbers. In many times others lose the ability to see, listen, hear or even talk. Typically, friends or relatives cannot sit very long, having "simply have to go" somewhere else...anywhere else, of course. Although aphasia is contagious, fortunately others (friends or relatives) get better as soon as they are not around people who have aphasia.

Well, are you getting the "flavor" of this website yet? Aphasia is technically not contagious, but when "normal" people find that we have aphasia they forget how to see ("Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you") or can't communicate anymore ("I'm too busy, have to go, etc., like 'I can't talk right now") and often times it feels like "normal people" have more problems with communication than people have aphasia!

More than a million people in America have it (and counting) and about 70% of those surveyed felt that people avoid contact with them because of communication difficulties. Think about it...seven of every ten afflicted just stay home, watching television, cleaning the house, eating, going to bed and starting the next day doing the same thing. Stroke is the third largest cause of death in America and it's a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. There are about five-million survivors alive today, many of which have serious communication problems. Most of these people do not have a quality life, and most of them do not understand that they could…

A Ghosters' Snapshot…

A lot of people have never even heard about aphasia, and most people don't know anyone that has it, but because it is the "silent disability" more than 70% of them afflicted just "stay home". So, how many people have it? How about this…

If all of those afflicted in America where located in one city, it would fill Detroit, Michigan, or two Milwaukee, Wisconsin cities...or (are you ready for this?) those afflicted could fill any state like New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, or even North Dakota and Alaska together or DC and Wyoming at the same time!

That's a lot of people that cannot communicate "properly", but most people never even heard about it. They just stay home...waiting…