Aphasic patients and their families: wishes and limits

Aphasic patients and their relatives meet difficulties in various domains. They are confronted with communication problems. Together with the patient the family has to deal with the fact that the relative is dependent on their help as well as socially di erent. The goal of the research was to establish handicaps most commonly occurring in the life of aphasic patients and their relatives in a sample attending a speech therapy clinic in Slovenia. The authors were interested in their wishes and expectations. Twenty aphasic patients and 20 of their relatives were interviewed. It has been found that the everyday life of aphasic patients and their relatives is encumbered with a large number of difficulties. The patients are much more troubled by their communication problems than are the family. The latter are more concerned with the problems accompanying aphasia. In expressing wishes, both the patient and the relatives give priority to the hope that the patient will recover the capacity to speak.