Diabetes and seizures are common medical causes, and head injuries are a common cause in trauma. If the patient has seizure activity, describe it. Speech disorders . Stroke patient's may have slurred, gargled speech or incomprehensible speech. If a patient is relatively alert, but isn't able to understand simple verbal commands, he has what's called a receptive aphasia.
Expressive aphasia is characterized by inappropriate word choices or nonsensical sentences.
Weakness or numbness . Stroke victims commonly have one sided weakness. This weakness may have caused the patient to fall, or he may be unable to maintain a sitting position without slumping over. Remember to maintain c-spine precautions, immobilize and protect the patient's paralyzed extremities with proper splinting. You can test the patient's weakness by comparing the strength of hand grasps.