Communication

The concept of communication encompasses speech and language alongside our ability to understand non-verbal communication. While communication appears effortless in normal circumstances, large amounts of unconscious processing are required from widely distributed brain regions. Non-verbal communication incorporates additional neurological systems including visual pathways, occipital lobe, mirror neurons, and so on. These observations mean that language function can be impaired from a much wider range of brain injuries than the relatively focal lesions that were traditionally considered. This chapter discusses acquired speech and language disorders (dysphasia/aphasia, fluent dysphasias, non-fluent dysphasia, global dysphasia, dysarthria, apraxia of speech, and neurogenic stuttering) and their assessment. Different therapies are defined, including impairment and communication-based therapies, and their appropriate applications depending on the underlying cause of the disorder.