Rehabilitation focuses on establishing the most effective means of communication. For mildly impaired patients, a context-centered approach that emphasizes ideas and thoughts rather than words is effective. Patients and caregivers may be able to convey messages by pointing to images in a photography or picture book or by using a communication board or another augmentative device. Bilingual or multilingual aphasic patients are likely to regain their native language first and may not regain their secondary language skills. The physician and speech pathologist can help family members and friends understand that aphasia is a speech disorder, not a mental illness.
Dysarthria is the second most common speech disorder among elderly patients.
Because language function is generally intact, patients typically can read and write. Rehabilitation goals depend on the cause of dysarthria. In very severe cases, communication may need to be augmented with devices such as a letter board, picture board, or specially designed electronic devices. Patients with verbal apraxia can move the muscles involved in speech but have difficulty speaking due to diminished volitional control of muscles. The patient appears to have forgotten how to make the sounds of language.