Aphasia and Dysarthria are both medical conditions, related to communication impairment. Both the disorders have many similar things although there are some key differences. These disorders lead to communication difficulty, caused by some trauma, stroke, brain injury, or tumor. It occurs in the muscles of the brain which makes the communication senses difficult.
Aphasia vs Dysarthria
The main difference between Aphasia and Dysarthria is that Aphasia is a language impairment while Dysarthria is a speech impairment. Aphasia affects a person’s ability of language, to understand, write, read or speak a language. Dysarthria is the impairment of speech in which the speech of the person is affected.
Aphasia is a disorder that happened due to some medical condition of the brain. In this disorder, a person cannot understand a language. He will have difficulty in understanding, speaking, writing, or reading a language. It’s like he knows what he wants to say, just he cannot put it in any words of any language.
Dysarthria is a speech disorder in which a person understands the language but speaks it in a slurry way. The tongue or voice box is affected due to which the words come out all slurry. The muscles which help a person to speak are affected, they are damaged, or paralyzed due to which speaking for a person becomes difficult.
Comparison Table Between Aphasia And Dysarthria
| Parameters of Comparison | Aphasia | Dysarthria |
| Definition | Aphasia is a language impairment, in which a person has difficulty understanding a language. | Dysarthria is a speech impairment, in which a person has difficulty speaking. |
| Associated with | Associated with language functions like reading, writing a language. | Associated with bulbar abnormalities. |
| Symptoms | Having trouble putting words together, mixing up words, not understanding what others are saying. | Speaking more quickly or slowly, mumbling words, and Slurring in speaking. |
| Diagnosed | Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scan. | MRI or Ct scans, Blood tests, Electromyography tests, etc. |
| Treatment | Rehabilitation, Communication Exercises. | Speech Therapy and exercises. |
What is Aphasia?
Aphasia is a language disorder. This disorder damages the areas of the brain that produce and process language. Aphasia can happen to anyone. It is caused because of a brain injury, stroke, trauma, or a tumor. The effect of the disorder can be mild or severe.
A person with this disorder has difficulty in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing a language. They have trouble putting words together. They know what they want to say but they don’t know how to put it in words and meaningful sentences. And so they mix up words of a language. They have difficulty finding words. also they have difficulty in putting places, things, persons, events together. They have trouble expressing their thoughts.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are used to identify the cause and areas of the brain that are damaged. A basic language test is also done physically. This disorder can be treated but cannot be cured.
To improve the language and communication abilities, Rehabilitation along with a speech-language pathologist is done. Therapy is the only way to overcome this disorder. Many exercises like reading, writing, listening, and repeating wording exercises, are used. Learning expressive language skills such as using facial expressions and gestures to communicate is also used to treat.
What is Dysarthria?
Dysarthria is a speech disorder in which the speech of a person is affected. The person can understand, speak, read and write a language but when he speaks, the words come out slurry. The person have the difficulty in speaking only, not in reading, writing, and understanding.
The symptoms of the disorder are speaking more quickly, or slowly, mumbling words, pausing in between words, Slurring in speaking, Sounding robotic, Difficulty having moving lips and tongue, etc. The muscles of the tongue, vocal cord, or voice box are affected by this disorder. The speech organs are damaged in this disorder.
Dysarthria occurs due to Brain tumors, Stroke, Brain Injury, Dementia, or side effect of certain medication. Neuromuscular diseases like Cerebral palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s disease can also cause dysarthria.
MRI or Ct scans, Blood tests, Electromyography tests, etc. are used to diagnose the disorder. Physical Evaluation is also done to test the speaking abilities. The disorder cannot be cured fully. The treatment is given by Speech-language pathologists through therapy and exercises. Speech therapy is used to control the movements of the tongue and lips to improve the sound of the words. And exercises are used to strengthen the muscles of the mouth.
Main Differences Between Aphasia And Dysarthria
- Aphasia is a language disorder while on the other hand Dysarthria is a speech disorder.
- In aphasia, the language is abnormal while in dysarthria the language is normal.
- In aphasia, a person is unable to understand, speak, read or write a language. While in Dysarthria a person can understand the language but the speech is slurred.
- The symptoms of Aphasia are mumbling words, slurred speech, talking too fast, sounding robotic, etc. The symptoms of Dysarthria are saying wrong words, not understanding what others are saying, etc.
- Aphasia is always due to a brain disease, while dysarthria can be because of brain injury or damage of the speech organs.
Conclusion
Aphasia and Dysarthria are both communication disorders. Aphasia is a language disorder in which it is difficult for a person to understand a language. People with this disorder have trouble putting words together. They know what to say but don’t know what words to use, how to make meaningful sentences. They also have difficulty in reading.
Dysarthria is a speech disorder in which a speech of a person is affected. The motor speech muscles are affected by any brain injury or stroke or it can happen by birth as well. In this disorder, the person has difficulty pronouncing words correctly or speaking a sentence continuously without pause. Many exercises help to overcome the disorder.
Both the disorders cannot be treated fully. A person can overcome them to an extent by therapy and exercise.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780121258313502203
- https://pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1044/jshr.3905.s46