National Aphasia Association, Inc. (NAA)

Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person's ability to speak and understand others, but does not affect intelligence. It is usually caused by stroke or other brain injury. Most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing. The mission of the National Aphasia Association (NAA)is to educate the public to know that the word "aphasia" describes an impairment of the ability to communicate, not an impairment of intellect. The NAA makes people with aphasia, their families, support systems, and health care professionals aware of resources to recover lost skills to the extent possible, to compensate for skills that will not be recovered and to minimize the psychosocial impact of the language impairment.