My uncle had a stroke two months ago. His recovery has been good so far. The stroke affected his right side slightly but the worst part is that his speech is gone. He can say a fey words like yes, no and ok. Its very hard to talk to him and he gets upset when he can't talk back. I was just wondering how long does it usually take for his speech to come back?
Expert Answer by James Castle, M.D.
Unfortunately, speech disturbance is one aspect that recovers slowly, if ever. In general, recovery from a stroke is not as predictable as it is in other diseases. Take for example a broken arm: you set the bone, place a cast, wait a few weeks, and the bone recovers. In stroke, although improvement from the initial symptoms is the rule, there is a tremendous amount of variability in the degree of progress. Although some patients return to normal, many others make only modest strides, and some have little or no improvement. In general, the vast majority of recovery is seen in the first 6 months after the stroke, although people often tell stories of continued recovery out to 2 years.
Answer
As a speech pathologist who specializes in speech/language therapy post-stroke, I can tell you that there is no quick or easy recovery of communication function. I recommend a speech evaluation to determine diagnosis, (there are several tyes), and prognosis. It is not accurate or fair to compare one person's recovery to another, due to the many variables affecting speech/language, including: location and extent of brain trauma ,age and health, and how quickly and frequently speech services are implemented. Good luck!
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