Does anyone know anything about aphasia?
I just finished writing a first chapter where my main character was given a temporary aphasia-inducing drug and dumped on the street, as part of a plan to mess with her head. Now that I've written it, of course, I have the nagging realization that I haven't really done my research. For example, I've been assuming that while she can't make out what other people are really saying or make herself verbally understood, nonverbal communication is unaffected. For example, if someone makes the "crazy" sign at her (you know, circling your ear with your finger) she'd know what they meant. Does anyone know if that's the case, or is all communication affected?
This is science fiction---as far as I know, there is no aphasia-inducing drug---but I'd like to base it as closely on the real disorder as possible. I'll hit the library tomorrow if it's open, but I thought perhaps some people here might be able to tell me about it too.
If this post is a little scrambled, by the way, I'm sorry. It's two a.m. here. (Which means I probably won't respond to any responses until tomorrow---I mean, until it's properly tomorrow, with daylight and stuff. I really should at least pretend to sleep. So, no hurry. )
Izunya
I just finished writing a first chapter where my main character was given a temporary aphasia-inducing drug and dumped on the street, as part of a plan to mess with her head. Now that I've written it, of course, I have the nagging realization that I haven't really done my research. For example, I've been assuming that while she can't make out what other people are really saying or make herself verbally understood, nonverbal communication is unaffected. For example, if someone makes the "crazy" sign at her (you know, circling your ear with your finger) she'd know what they meant. Does anyone know if that's the case, or is all communication affected?
This is science fiction---as far as I know, there is no aphasia-inducing drug---but I'd like to base it as closely on the real disorder as possible. I'll hit the library tomorrow if it's open, but I thought perhaps some people here might be able to tell me about it too.
If this post is a little scrambled, by the way, I'm sorry. It's two a.m. here. (Which means I probably won't respond to any responses until tomorrow---I mean, until it's properly tomorrow, with daylight and stuff. I really should at least pretend to sleep. So, no hurry. )
Izunya