Addressing the Needs of Adolescent Children When a Parent Becomes Aphasic: One Family’s Experiences

Abstract

There are several reports of the psychosocial effects of aphasia on family members and of factors that may influence a family’s emotional adjustment. Most of these, however, have included only spouses or the adult children of individuals with aphasia. Therefore, to address how children of adolescent age or younger react to and cope with parental aphasia, this article provides an account of one family’s experiences with stroke and aphasia. Specifically, the impact of a father’s aphasia on his adolescent daughter as well as how the parents attempted to help their daughter adjust during acute and chronic recovery phases are described.

Keywords:

• aphasia
• children
• counseling
• psychosocial effects