About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffIf your aphasia is due to a stroke or head injury, you'll probably first be seen by an emergency room physician. You'll then be seen by a doctor who specializes in disorders of the nervous system (neurologist), and you may eventually be referred to a speech-language pathologist for rehabilitation.
Because this condition generally arises as an emergency, you won't have any time to prepare. If possible, bring any medications or supplements that you take with you to the hospital so that your doctor is aware of what you've taken.
When you have follow-up appointments, you'll likely need a friend or loved one to drive you to your doctor's office. In addition, they may be able to help you communicate with your doctor.
Some questions a loved one or friend may want to ask your doctor include:
- What's the most likely cause of these speech difficulties?
- Are any tests needed?
- Is aphasia temporary or long lasting?
- What treatments are available, and which do you recommend?
- Are there any types of services available, such as speech-language therapy or home health assistance?
- Is there any way to help my loved one understand others or communicate more effectively?
- Aphasia. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.htm. Accessed Jan. 18, 2010.
- Aphasia: Benefits of speech-language pathology services. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/AphasiaSLPBenefits.htm. Accessed Jan. 19, 2010.
- Aphasia. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Aphasia.htm. Accessed Jan. 18, 2010.
- Aphasia. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec16/ch210/ch210d.html. Accessed Jan. 18, 2010.
- Mesulam MM. Aphasia, memory loss, and other focal cerebral disorders. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2007. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2886863. Accessed Jan. 18, 2010.
- Clark DG. Aphasia: Prognosis and treatment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 18, 2010.
- NINDS aphasia information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/aphasia/aphasia.htm. Accessed Jan. 18, 2010.
- Tips for socializing with aphasia. American Stroke Association. http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3030118. Accessed Jan. 19, 2010.
- Edythe Strand, Ph.D. (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 1, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on