Aphasia Therapy Can Be Fun — Games for Speech Therapy
Aphasia is a condition typically caused by a stroke or brain injury that impacts communication. During speech therapy, using games is a great way to work on goals while having fun. Check out the blog to learn about adaptations that can be made and how to use games to promote communication.
What is Aphasia?
As a speech therapist, I work with both children and adults with aphasia. For those unfamiliar, aphasia is a condition that can impact all facets of communication including speaking, reading, writing, understanding, coming up with the words, organizing thoughts and following directions. It is typically caused by a stroke or brain injury. If you are interested in learning more about aphasia, check out this blog.
Speech Therapy
In my more than 15 years working with people of all ages and abilities I have learned that there are a few things that are true across everyone I have worked with — people like fun. When speech therapy is fun, it is more enjoyable and they are more engaged. As such, I try to incorporate games into my sessions whenever possible.
More Than Just Fun
In addition to being fun, games are a great way to get friends and families involved in speech therapy. Many times, I will play these games with patients to practice or learn the rules and accommodations that can be made for them to access the game. After speech therapy, they enjoy playing with siblings, parents, grandkids, neighbors or anyone that they want to.
Incorporating games into speech therapy is a great way to promote socialization and support an improved quality of life for people with aphasia. Game nights are a great way for anyone to socialize and interact with families and friends but it can be difficult for people with aphasia.
Many studies have found that people with aphasia feel isolated following their stroke. It can be hard for them to engage in social activities in the way that they could before their stroke. I thought this particular quote from one study helped to illustrate this point:
So really, incorporating games to promote socialization is actually a great addition to any speech therapy session! Additionally, playing games is one way to incorporate the Lifestyle Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) — a philosophy that encourages re-engagement in life and putting the goals of the person with aphasia at the forefront of decision making.
To learn more about the LPAA, check out this link.
Board Games
I’ve listed the five games I use most often that can be used with a variety of ages and abilities. Most of these games can be adapted to any language ability. In each section, I suggest some modifications:
Uno
This is a game that most people I have worked with are familiar with. When people are familiar with a game before their stroke and aphasia, it can help them to be more engaged and sometimes independent with the game in speech therapy.
For those who aren’t familiar, Uno is a card game where each player puts cards in the middle pile that match the color, number, symbol or are a wild card. Players take turns putting cards in the pile and the first one to get rid of all of the cards in their hand (or card holder) wins.
To practice more speech, rather than just playing the card, we have played where each player says the color and number/symbol on their card. For example, “red skip” or “red seven”. The adaptation for this game is to use a card holder or to lay the cards flat on the table in front of each person.
- Players: 2 — 10
- Ages — technically 7 and up but fun for all ages (I’ve played with my 5 year old)
- Time to play: 5–15 minutes
- Good for families — yes
- Difficulty — Easy
- Language Abilities Needed — Can be played with all language abilities
- Skills the game supports — Color Recognition and Matching, Number Recognition and Matching, Symbol Recognition and Matching, Attention, Turn Taking
- Find on Amazon or Target
Pictionary
This is a team game that involves clue giving, drawing pictures, and clue guessing, guessing the drawing, based on the cards included in the game. The words that the players draw and guess come from a variety of categories such as person, place, animal, object, and actions.
Players take turns picking a card and drawing clues without using letters or numbers. Included are small papers and markers but I have adapted this to use a big dry erase board or a vertical clipboard to account for visual difficulties or difficulties with fine motor skills.
When playing according to the game rules, a timer and buzzer are used. Players have about a minute to guess the words when using the included timer. When I play, I make the adaptation of using my phone as a timer to allow players who need more time to describe the word and individualize the time for each player.
- Players: Two teams (but I have played with just two people and didn’t keep score)
- Ages — 8 and up but fun for all ages
- Time to play: 90 minutes (if sticking to the rules)
- Good for families — yes
- Difficulty — Easy
- Language Abilities Needed — Reading and drawing are required but can be adapted or team-based
- Skills the game supports — Reading, Drawing, Word Finding
- Find on Amazon or Target
Qwirkle:
This turn-taking game is played on a tabletop by organizing colorful tiles. Tiles can be organized in many different ways such as by color or pattern/shape and overlap like a crossword puzzle. Players take turns organizing the tiles by design or by color.
This is a great game for families to play together. I have played this game in groups with teenagers and people in their 60s and everyone had fun. I also play this game at home with my own kids ages 5 and 7.
The adaptation for this game is to use a rack to hold the tiles from Scrabble or Mahjong or to agree to lie them flat rather than keep them hidden. This helps with some of the fine motor demands. Additionally, the directions have a visual of all of the tiles organized by color and design. This could be used during the game as a visual reference.
- Players: 2–4
- Ages — 6 and up but fun for all ages
- Time to play: 30–45 minutes
- Good for families — yes
- Difficulty — Easy
- Language Abilities Needed — Can be played with all language abilities
- Skills the game supports — Color Recognition, Shape/Design Recognition, Strategizing, Problem Solving, Categorization.
- Find on Amazon or Target
Blank Slate:
In this game, players will read a cue card and players will write the phrase that best completes the phrase. For example: Hot ______. Players then write the word that they think best fits the phrase on a dry erase board.
Players earn points by matching each other. For example, if two or more people write down ‘wheels’ when given the card Hot ______. There is a board to keep track of points but sometimes I don’t use it if we don’t have the time to play a full game.
While this game requires reading and writing, I have adapted this to use with supported communication techniques. The support needed may look different for different people. Some may benefit from choices, some may need to see the card in addition to hearing it, while others may need help with writing.
- Players: 3–8 (I have played it with two for practice)
- Ages — 8 and up but fun for all ages
- Time to play: 20–30 minutes (I’ve adapted and played just a few rounds for fun)
- Good for families — yes
- Difficulty — Easy to Medium
- Language Abilities Needed — Reading and writing are required but can be adapted or team-based
- Skills the game supports — Writing, Spelling, Reading, Word Finding, Listening, Attention
- Find on Amazon or Target
Taboo:
This is a team game that involves clue giving, describing words, and clue guessing, guessing words, based on the cards included in game. The words players describe and guess come from a variety of categories such as food, drink places, and famous people.
Players take turns describing the word listed on their card BUT there are a list of common words that cannot be used. For example, if the word was ‘cloud’ words the card tells me I cannot say words like “fluffy” or “sky”. That makes the game a bit tricky.
When playing according to the game rules, a timer and buzzer are used. Players have about a minute to describe the words when using the included timer. When I play, I use my phone to allow players who need more time to describe the word and individualize the time for each player. Additionally, in speech therapy, I use the Semantic Feature Analysis chart as a visual support.
- Players: 4 or more (I have played with two and not kept score though)
- Ages — 13 and up
- Time to play: 20–30 minutes (I’ve adapted and played just a few rounds for fun)
- Good for families — For older teens and adults
- Difficulty Level — Harder
- Language Abilities Needed — Reading and writing are required but can be adapted or team-based
- Skills the game supports — Word finding, Vocabulary, Reading, Processing Speed
- Find on Amazon or Target
Summary
Many studies have found that people with aphasia feel isolated following their stroke. It can be hard for them to engage in social activities in the way that they could before their stroke.
Incorporating games into speech therapy is a great way to promote socialization and support an improved quality of life for people with aphasia. Game nights are a great way for anyone to socialize and interact with families and friends but it can be difficult for people with aphasia.
Consider adding board games to speech therapy sessions. This blog was by no means an exhaustive list. It is one way to incorporate the Lifestyle Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) to encourage re-engagement in life, socialization, and interactions with family, friends, and the community.
I hope you found this blog about playing games helpful!
TLC Speech Therapy is a speech pathology private practice, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in feeding, swallowing, and cognitive-communication skills in infants, children, teens, and adults.
TLC Speech Therapy offers specific, individualized, and high-intensity programs for people with aphasia.
For more information about speech therapy or high-intensity programming, check out our website at tlcspeechtherapy.com or contact us at hello@tlcspeechtherapy.com
Disclaimer :)
As a speech therapist and certified brain injury specialist, I have experience working with children and adults in all types of settings. The information in this article is meant to provide some general information about aphasia. It is not meant as clinical advice. If you ever have any concerns, please consult with a physician.
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