Traumatic Brain Injury

What is a traumatic brain injury?

A traumatic brain injury occurs when you receive a blow to the head that interferes with your brain's normal function. Traumatic brain injuries and their symptoms range in severity, such as a temporary change in mental state or extended period of unconsciousness, such as a coma. 

You might experience a traumatic brain injury during an automobile collision or a sports-related accident. 

How does a traumatic brain injury affect speech and language skills?

In some cases, a traumatic brain injury affects the regions of the brain that control speech and language skills. Some of the ways a brain injury can affect speech include:

• Problems finding the right words
• Disorganized thoughts and speech
• Trouble understanding information
• Impaired social skills
• Problems producing certain sounds
• Trouble saying certain words
• Swallowing problems

A traumatic brain injury can also trigger aphasia. Aphasia affects your ability to understand or produce coherent speech. It can also disrupt your ability to read or write. 

Aphasia is also highly variable ranging from not finding the right word to the inability to produce speech coherent enough to be understood. The condition also varies in permanence. 

Can speech therapy restore language skills after a traumatic brain injury?

Speech therapists can help you or your child regain speech and language skills after a traumatic brain injury. The team at Celebrations Speech Group begins with a comprehensive assessment of speech and language to identify areas of weakness and lost skills. 

Depending on your specific needs, your speech therapist can help you or your child:

• Improve speaking mechanics for clear pronunciation
• Vocabulary building
• Express thoughts more clearly
• Enhance reading comprehension
• Increase attention and memory
• Practice problem-solving skills
• Safe swallowing skills

Your speech therapist can also help you or your child rebuild social language skills. You can relearn how to read social cues, turn-taking in conversation, and listening to respond appropriately. 

It can take time to rebuild your speech and language skills after a traumatic brain injury. A speech therapist can help you use other communications tools like picture boards or computers to help you express yourself while you recover. 

Don't delay treatment after a traumatic brain injury. Call Celebrations Speech Group or schedule an appointment online today.