I Stroking.
Speech
Stroke can affect the ability to speak, write or understand what is being said.
A stroke can affect a person's speech or language, or both. This dysphasia is a difficulty with language as a result of damage to the brain, and it can affect both speaking and writing. The problem can be a difficulty in understanding what is being said. This is called receptive dysphasia. Alternatively, the person may understand what is being said but be unable to find the right words to express what they want to say. This is called expressive dysphasia. We have all experienced the embarrassing situation of being introduced to someone, knowing perfectly well who they are and yet not being able to remember their name, or trying to remember something that is 'on the tip of our tongue'. Expressive dysphasia is like that, but for everything all the time. People often suffer from a mixture of both types.
Dysphasia most commonly occurs with strokes affecting the left side of the brain, so it often happens in a stroke survivor with paralysis of the right arm and leg. The only exception to this is in left-handed people, in about a third of whom their language area is on the right side of their brain.
