Q: Hello! My mother suffered a stroke two summers ago, and has been left with residual difficulties with communication. I have heard this referred to both as aphasia and dysphagia, but she does not have any swallowing impairments. Have you ever come across this verbiage? Thank you.

A: Aphasia and dysphasia (with an “S”) are both commonly used to describe difficulty or impairment in communication, with the latter term being fairly rare among health care professionals. Dysphagia (with a “G”) is used to describe an impairment in swallowing.