Living with aphasia means facing the daily challenge of communication. Imagine knowing exactly what you want to say but being unable to find the words, or worse, seeing the impatience on your conversation partner’s face when you take time to express yourself. This daily frustration is mentally and emotionally exhausting. However, concrete strategies exist to facilitate communication while preserving your energy and well-being.
This article presents ten practical strategies, tested by people with aphasia and speech therapists, to communicate more effectively in daily life. Whether your aphasia is mild or severe, recent or long-standing, you will find adaptable techniques for your situation here.
Strategy 1: Create a Favorable Communication Environment
Choose the Right Time and Place
Communication is not limited to the words exchanged. The environment plays a crucial role in your ability to be understood without exhaustion.
Favor times when you are rested. Fatigue amplifies language difficulties. Mornings, after a good night’s sleep, are often more conducive than the end of the day. If something important needs to be discussed, plan it for when you feel fit.
Eliminate background noise. Background noise (television, radio, simultaneous conversations) significantly complicates communication for a person with aphasia. Your brain already has to exert considerable effort to produce or understand language; don’t overload it with distracting information.
Philippe shares: “I asked my family to systematically turn off the television when we talk. This simple change has transformed our exchanges. I get tired less quickly and can participate much more in conversations.”
Opt for quiet and well-lit places. Good lighting allows you to observe your conversation partner’s facial expressions and gestures, which are valuable cues for understanding. A calm environment facilitates concentration.
Prefer one-on-one conversations. Group discussions where several people speak simultaneously are exhausting. When possible, favor exchanges with one person at a time.
Create Communication Rituals
Establish signals with your loved ones indicating that you need time to respond, or that you are tired and wish to postpone the conversation. A simple gesture, agreed upon in advance, avoids misunderstandings and preserves your relationships.
Set “communication hours” during which you are particularly available to exchange, and moments of rest where you can withdraw without guilt.
Strategy 2: Use Visual and Gestural Supports
The Power of Images
When words fail, images speak. Visual supports are a powerful tool to complement or replace speech.
Create a personalized communication notebook with photos, pictograms, or drawings representing the important people in your life, your daily activities, your essential needs, and your feelings. This notebook becomes your ally in all situations.
Marie, who has had aphasia for three years, explains: “My notebook contains photos of my children, my house, the foods I like, activities. When I want to talk about something, I show the corresponding photo. It has given me back an autonomy I thought I had lost.”
Always have your smartphone with you: the stored photos serve as an instant communication support. Want to talk about your grandson? Show his photo. Need to explain something? Take your phone and look for a corresponding image online.
Use pictogram apps specifically designed for alternative communication. These tools offer libraries of images organized by themes, making it easier to express complex concepts.
Gestures and Body Language
Never underestimate the power of gestures. Pointing, miming, reproducing a characteristic movement: these actions often convey the essence more quickly than words.
Develop your own “gesture vocabulary” with your loved ones. Simple gestures understood by those around you facilitate everyday communication: hand on the heart for “I love”, drinking gesture for “thirst”, etc.
Use your facial expressions. Your face conveys a lot of information: approval, disagreement, doubt, pleasure. Exaggerate these expressions to ensure they are well perceived.
Combine gestures and fragments of words. Even if you can only find part of the word, accompanied by the right gesture, your conversation partner will generally understand the message.
Strategy 3: Master the Art of Simple Sentences
Simplicity as Strength
When struggling with aphasia, there is sometimes a temptation to force yourself to produce complex sentences, like “before.” This approach is exhausting and frustrating. Accept simplicity as an effective strategy, not as failure.
Build short sentences, with subject-verb-object. “I want coffee” conveys the message as effectively as “I would like to have a coffee, please.”
Favor essential words. Eliminate articles, linking words, and complex polite phrases. The essential thing is to convey the information, not to produce a grammatically perfect sentence.
Jacques raconte : “At first, I exhausted myself trying to find the perfect wording. Now, I get straight to the point: ‘Me – doctor – Tuesday’. My wife understands that I have an appointment with the doctor on Tuesday. Simple, effective, not tiring.”
The keyword technique
Identify the main word of what you want to express and focus on it. The context usually helps your interlocutor reconstruct the rest.
If you want to say “I would like to go to the hairdresser tomorrow,” the keyword is “hairdresser.” Say “hairdresser” while gesturing towards your hair and pointing to your watch to indicate “tomorrow,” and you will be understood.
Mentally prepare your important phrases. If you know you need to discuss a specific topic, think in advance about the essential keywords. This preparation reduces cognitive effort at the time of the exchange.
Accept approximations
A close word is better than no word at all. If “plate” doesn’t come to mind but “dish” does, use “dish.” Your interlocutor will understand in context.
Don’t get stuck on perfection. Every second spent searching for THE exact word tires you out. A synonym, a word from the same family, or a short paraphrase will do just fine.
Strategy 4: Use writing and drawing
Write when speech is blocked
For some people with aphasia, writing remains more accessible than speaking. Don’t hesitate to write your messages, even if the spelling isn’t perfect.
Always keep a notebook and a pen with you. When faced with a block on an important word, write it down. Even if you make mistakes, even if the writing is hesitant, it’s an additional communication channel.
Use your phone to type messages. Note-taking apps, SMS, and emails are less exhausting communication methods than speaking for some people.
Sophie témoigne : “At the restaurant, I can’t manage to order orally. Now, I write my order on my phone and show the screen to the waiter. It works perfectly and saves me the stress.”
Drawing as a universal language
You don’t need to be an artist to draw. A simple diagram, basic lines are often enough to convey your message.
Do you want to explain that you have a headache? Draw a head with lightning around it. Are you trying to say that your car is broken down? Sketch a car with a cross. These rudimentary drawings work remarkably well.
Combine drawings and fragmentary words. Draw an element and add one or two keywords. This multimodality (visual + verbal) optimizes understanding.
Have a wipeable board or scrap paper easily accessible at home. This tool becomes natural and does not exhaust your cognitive resources once its use becomes habitual.
Strategy 5: Structure your social interactions
Prepare important conversations
Anticipate predictable exchanges. Medical appointments, administrative phone calls, important family discussions: prepare in advance.
Note the essential points you want to address. Having this list in front of you during the conversation reassures you and guides you.
Inform your interlocutor of your language difficulties at the beginning of the exchange. “I have aphasia, I speak slowly, thank you for being patient” diffuses a lot of tension.
Prepare explanatory cards that you hand out at the beginning of a conversation with an unknown person. These cards briefly explain what aphasia is and how to interact with you. Many aphasia associations provide them.
Manage communication fatigue
Communication requires considerable energy when you have aphasia. Learn to recognize signs of fatigue: increased language difficulties, irritability, headaches.
Allow yourself to shorten or postpone a conversation when you feel exhaustion coming on. “I’m tired, can we continue tomorrow?” is a phrase you should be able to say without guilt.
Luc explains: “Before, I pushed myself until complete exhaustion. Now, after 20 minutes of intense conversation, I take a break. My family has understood and respects this pace. Paradoxically, I communicate more and better than before because I take care of myself.”
Alternate moments of interaction and rest time. After a demanding exchange, give yourself a real break: silence, relaxing activity, nap if necessary.
Limit exhausting social events. You are not obliged to attend every family gathering or invitation. Choose the ones that really matter to you.
Create relaxed communication moments
Plan pressure-free exchange times, where the goal is not to convey important information but simply to share a pleasant moment: looking at photos together, flipping through a magazine while commenting on the images, taking a walk side by side.
These low-stakes moments are precious for maintaining social connections without exhaustion.
Strategy 6: Regularly practice with suitable tools
The importance of daily practice
Just as an athlete maintains their fitness through regular training, you can maintain and improve your communication skills through daily practice.
Fifteen minutes a day is better than an hour a week. Regularity stimulates neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to create new connections.
CLINT, your daily training ally
The CLINT program developed by DYNSEO offers cognitive stimulation exercises tailored for aphasic individuals.
Why CLINT is particularly useful for aphasia:
- Progressive naming exercises: games where you must name images, starting with simple ones and then moving to more complex
- Categorization and associations: activities stimulating semantic networks, facilitating access to vocabulary
- Adaptability of level: you progress at your own pace, without pressure or failure
- Clear visual interface: few complex written instructions, lots of visual aids
- Progress tracking: visualizing your advancements motivates and encourages
- Permanent availability: you train when you feel up to it, not according to a set schedule
- Understand what is happening in your brain
- Adapt their communication without infantilizing
- Identify what really helps you versus what frustrates you
- Preserve their own balance as caregivers
- We turn off the TV when we talk
- We speak face to face, not from one room to another
- We do not interrupt, we wait for the end of the sentence
- We always check that we have understood correctly
- We can say “I am tired” without justifying ourselves
- Support groups where everyone understands your difficulties
- Communication workshops in a caring environment
- Outings and adapted activities
- Practical advice from people who have been there
- An end to isolation
- Practice daily with CLINT, your brain coach
- Train your loved ones with the DYNSEO training on Stroke
- Download the post-stroke support guide
- Contact the National Federation of Aphasia in France to find an association near you
Martine, a CLINT user for a year, says: “I do my exercises every morning after breakfast. It has become a ritual. I see my progress, especially in vocabulary games. And above all, it’s fun, not like schoolwork.”
Varying exercises to maintain motivation
Alternate different types of activities: naming, reading, writing, comprehension. This variety engages different brain areas and prevents boredom.
Set realistic and progressive goals. There’s no question of aiming for perfection immediately. Celebrate every small progress: finding a word that eluded you yesterday, constructing a more complex sentence, understanding faster.
Involve your loved ones in some exercises. Playing language games together can be both stimulating and enjoyable, turning training into a moment of sharing.
Strategy 7: Develop workaround strategies
When the word doesn’t come: “trick” techniques
Aphasia forces you to develop remarkable creativity to bypass language obstacles.
Circumlocution, or the art of describing: if “fork” doesn’t come to mind, describe: “the thing for eating, with teeth, made of metal.” This technique works surprisingly well.
Association of ideas: if you’re looking for “doctor,” try thinking of associated words: hospital, illness, treat. Sometimes, these words come to mind more easily and allow your conversation partner to guess the target word.
The beginning of the word: pronounce the first syllable, even if the rest doesn’t come. “Te… te…” helps your conversation partner suggest “telephone” if that’s the context.
Categories: “it’s an animal, it lives in water” effectively guides towards “fish” even if the exact word escapes you.
Create a network of familiar words
Identify your “refuge words”, those that come easily to you. Use them as springboards to access other words.
Compile a personalized list of words and expressions that you frequently use in your daily life. Review it regularly to maintain their accessibility.
Create personal associations between difficult words and cues that help you: a mental image, a color, a sound, a situation. These personalized “mnemonic tricks” facilitate access to vocabulary.
Strategy 8: Use technology wisely
Alternative communication applications
Beyond CLINT for cognitive training, other technological applications facilitate daily communication.
Text-to-speech applications allow you to type your message, which is then read aloud by the device. Useful when writing is more accessible than spoken language.
Organized pictogram applications offer libraries of images by categories. With a few clicks, you visually construct your message.
Translation applications can sometimes help: do you know the word in English but not in French? The application makes the connection.
Electronic calendars with reminders compensate for verbal memory difficulties and spare you from having to explain your appointments orally.
Voice assistants: friends or foes?
Voice assistants (Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa) can be helpful for certain tasks, but they have limitations for aphasic individuals.
Advantage: you can ask them to do simple things without having to navigate through menus.
Disadvantage: they misunderstand fragmented sentences or typical pronunciation errors of aphasia.
Solution: set them up for very simple commands and practice the formulations they understand. Or ask a loved one to configure them for you.
Social networks: maintaining the connection
Social networks offer valuable asynchronous communication: you take the time to formulate your message, you reread it, you correct it if necessary before sending it. No time pressure.
Emojis and GIFs constitute a universal language that wonderfully complements words. Do not underestimate their expressive power.
Online support groups for people with aphasia allow for exchanges with those who truly understand your difficulties, in a caring environment.
Strategy 9: Rely on your loved ones in a balanced way
Train your entourage
Your loved ones want to help you but don’t always know how to go about it. Guide them explicitly:
“I need you to give me time to finish my sentences.”
“When you finish my sentences for me, it discourages me.”
“If you don’t understand, let me know, don’t pretend.”
“Talk to me normally, I’m neither deaf nor stupid.”
Direct your loved ones to reliable resources
For your loved ones to support you effectively without exhausting themselves, they need to understand aphasia.
The DYNSEO training on Stroke explains in detail the consequences of strokes, including aphasia, and provides concrete support strategies.
This training helps your loved ones to:
The practical guide for post-stroke support from DYNSEO also offers concrete advice for daily life.
Download the guide and suggest to your loved ones to consult it. This tool facilitates discussions about optimal support.
Establish family communication rules
Set “house rules” regarding communication:
These rules, displayed or regularly reminded, create a reassuring framework for everyone.
Know how to ask for help without feeling guilty
You are not a burden. Asking a loved one to call the doctor for you, to accompany you to the bank, or to rephrase what you said to a third party is legitimate.
Vary the people you rely on. Don’t always ask the same person to avoid exhausting them.
Acknowledge and thank for the help received. A simple “thank you, you helped me a lot” strengthens the relationship and encourages future support.
Strategy 10: Cultivate kindness towards yourself
Accept the bad days
Some days, words come more easily. Other days, everything is difficult. This variability is normal with aphasia. It depends on your fatigue, emotional state, stress, and many factors.
Bad days do not mean you are regressing. They are part of the journey. Accept them without feeling guilty.
Bernard shares: “Mondays are often my worst communication days. It took me a while to understand that the stress of the week starting had something to do with it. Now, I plan calm activities on Mondays and postpone important conversations. I stopped fighting against this reality.”
Celebrate small victories
Every progress deserves to be recognized, even the tiniest. Did you find a word that escaped you yesterday? Victory. Did you hold a five-minute conversation without too many blockages? Victory. Did you dare to speak to a stranger? Victory.
Keep a journal of your communication successes. Rereading this journal in moments of discouragement reminds you of the journey you have taken.
Free yourself from perfectionism
Before your aphasia, you spoke “perfectly”. That time is over, and wanting to regain that exact perfection will exhaust you without results.
The new norm is effective communication, not perfect. If your message gets across, even with approximations, gestures, or drawings, it is a success.
Claire, aphasic for four years, explains: “I cried the day I gave up on recovering my previous language. Then I started to build my new language, with its own tools. And you know what? It works. I communicate differently, but I communicate. And that’s what matters.”
Maintain activities that feel good
Aphasia does not define your entire existence. You remain a person with passions, pleasures, and favorite activities.
Continue what makes you feel good: gardening, cooking, music, walks, it doesn’t matter. Those moments when aphasia takes a back seat are essential for your balance.
Do not let aphasia isolate you. Yes, communication is more difficult, but isolation worsens the situation. Maintain social connections, even modest ones, even adapted.
Join an association for people with aphasia
Nothing beats the support of those who are going through the same thing. Associations for people with aphasia offer:
The National Federation of Aphasia in France (FNAF) brings together local associations all over France. Joining a group radically changes the experience of aphasia.
Putting into practice: your personalized action plan
These ten strategies may seem numerous. The idea is not to apply them all at once, which would be counterproductive and exhausting.
Start with one or two strategies that particularly resonate with your current situation. Test them for two weeks. Observe what works, adjust if necessary.
Then gradually add other strategies. Build your personalized communication toolkit little by little.
Involve your loved ones in your approach. Explain to them the strategies you are implementing so they can support you effectively.
Be patient with yourself. Changing communication habits takes time. Results are not immediate, but with consistency, you will see improvements.
Conclusion: communicate differently, not less
Aphasia forces you to reinvent your communication, not to give it up. These ten strategies are concrete tools to help you be understood effectively while preserving your energy and well-being.
Communication is not just about grammatical perfection. It aims to create connections, convey information, share emotions. With the right strategies, you can achieve these goals, even with aphasia.
The adapted environment, visual supports, embraced simplicity, regular training with tools like CLINT, workaround strategies, well-used technology, support from trained loved ones through resources like DYNSEO training, and above all, kindness towards yourself: all these combined elements create the conditions for satisfactory communication.
Your voice matters. Your thoughts deserve to be heard. Aphasia makes things more difficult, certainly, but not impossible. With the right strategies, you can maintain rich relationships, express your needs, share your emotions, contribute to family discussions.
The journey is long, sometimes discouraging, but you are not alone. Professionals, associations, digital tools, your loved ones: many resources exist to support you.
Every day you communicate despite the difficulties is a victory. Every message conveyed, even imperfectly, is a success. Never forget that.
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