Aphasia subsequent to stroke in adults with Williams syndrome or autism: A review

ABSTRACT

Aphasia is an acquired neurogenic language disorder that is often caused by stroke in adulthood. However, how does aphasia present, and how can it be effectively treated, in a neurodivergent adult with pre-existing differences in language or cognition? To confirm our intuitions that there are few published cases of aphasia resulting from stroke in adults with either Williams syndrome or autism, we searched for articles from 1990 to 2022 across multiple publication databases. For Williams syndrome, the search revealed two cases of aphasia, but few details were provided. No clear adult cases of autism with aphasia were found, though two potential cases were discovered. Despite the paucity of cases, we discuss how researchers and clinicians might meet the specific needs of these populations in relation to the assessment and treatment of aphasia.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism spectrum disorder
• stroke
• Williams syndrome
• aphasia
• neurodiversity
• speech-language pathology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2024.2310892