Aphasia is an acquired disorder of linguistic communication that is the result of localized damage to a part of the brain responsible for language. It usually comes on suddenly due to a stroke or head injury, but can also develop slowly due to brain tumors, infections, or dementia. Aphasia is an impairment of any language modality, such as processing language through reading, writing, understanding, or expressing. This may include difficulty producing or understanding spoken or written language. This disorder does not affect general intellectual functioning; a person with aphasia can still perform non-linguistic tasks. Aphasia can also occur with other speech disorders such as dysarthria or apraxia of speech, which are also the result of brain damage. This disorder affects approximately one million people, or 1 in 250 people in America. It is more common than Parkinson's disease or cerebral palsy, however it is not yet well understood. Most people who suffer from aphasia largely have problems with receptive language. Not only is oral language impaired, but so are skills such as reading and writing. Normally reading and writing are more affected than oral communication. But obviously everyone is different, so the severity of this disorder can also vary. It all depends on many factors, but especially on the amount and location of damage to the brain. Aphasia is usually recognized by the doctor treating the person for the brain injury. The doctor performs tests that involve the patient following commands, answering questions, naming objects and carrying on a conversation. If the doctor suspects aphasia, the patient is referred to a speech pathologist, who performs a complete examination of the… halfway through the document… a month after the brain injury, some amount of the aphasia usually remains. In these cases speech therapy is very useful. Recovery usually continues for a period of two years. Many healthcare professionals believe that the most effective treatment begins early in the recovery process. Some of the factors that influence the amount of improvement include the cause of the brain damage, the area of ​​the brain damaged, the extent of the brain injury, and the age and health of the individual. Works Cited Fromkin, V., R Rodman & N. Hyams (2007) An Introduction to Language (International Edition, 9th Edition) Wadsworth Cengage Learning. (6/7/2009) "Aphasia" Retrieved on 04/07/2011 from: http://www.medicinenet. com/aphasia/article.htm#tocb(23/02/2011) 'Aphasia' Retrieved 04/07/2011 from: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/aphasia/Pages/Introduction.aspx