about two million people in the U.S. and 250,000 people in Great Britain. Nearly 180,000 people acquire the disorder every year in the U.S., 170,000 due to stroke. Any person of any age can develop aphasia, given that it is often caused by a traumatic injury. However, people who are middle aged and older are the most likely to acquire aphasia, as the other etiologies are more likely at older ages. For example, approximately 75% of all strokes occur in individuals over the age of 65. Strokes account for most documented cases of aphasia: 25% to 40% of people who survive a stroke develop aphasia as a result of damage to the language-processing regions of the brain. Aphasia and dysphasia Technically, dysphasia means impaired language and aphasia means lack of language. There have been calls to use the term 'aphasia' regardless of severity. Reasons for doing so include dysphasia being easily confused with the swallowing disorder dysphagia, consumers and speech pathologists preferring the term aphasia, and many languages other than English using a word similar to aphasia. The term "aphasia" is more commonly used in North America, while "dysphasia" is more frequently used elsewhere. Signs and symptoms People with aphasia may experience any of the following behaviors due to an acquired brain injury, although some of these symptoms may be due to related or concomitant problems, such as dysarthria or apraxia, and not primarily due to aphasia. Aphasia symptoms can vary based on the location of damage in the brain. Signs and symptoms may or may not be present in individuals with aphasia and may vary in severity and level of disruption to communication. Often those with aphasia may have a difficulty with naming objects, so they might use words such as thing or point at the objects. When asked to name a pencil they may say it is a “thing used to write”. Inability to comprehend language Inability to pronounce, not due to muscle paralysis or weakness Inability to form words Inability to recall words (anomia) Poor enunciation Excessive creation and use of personal neologisms Inability to repeat a phrase Persistent repetition of one syllable, word, or phrase (stereotypies, recurrent/recurring utterances/speech automatism) also known as perseveration. Paraphasia (substituting letters, syllables or words) Agrammatism (inability to speak in a grammatically correct fashion) speaking in incomplete sentences Inability to read Inability to write Limited verbal output Difficulty in naming Speech disorder