Free aphasia assessment calculators
Take a validated aphasia assessment yourself, free. Get a score, see what it means, and check the evidence behind each one.
How common is aphasia?
About 1 in 3 stroke survivors has aphasia.
Around two million people in the United States are living with aphasia, and an estimated 100,000 to 180,000 people acquire it each year.1,2 Stroke is the leading cause.1The National Aphasia Association puts aphasia ahead of Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy on prevalence, yet far fewer people have heard of it.3
- 1.National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). Aphasia. nidcd.nih.gov/health/aphasia.
- 2.American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Aphasia (Practice Portal), citing Ellis et al. 2010 and the National Aphasia Association.
- 3.National Aphasia Association. How common is aphasia? aphasia.org.
Understanding aphasia
Aphasia affects how a person produces and understands language. It can touch speaking, understanding speech, reading, and writing, while leaving thinking and memory intact. It most often follows a stroke, and can also follow head injury, tumor, or a progressive condition.
These calculators measure language across those areas. Some are brief screens that flag whether aphasia is present. Others are full batteries that profile the type and severity, or track recovery over time. A few measure the everyday impact on communication and quality of life. Some also probe inner speech, which is relevant to communication and to brain-computer interface research. One, the FDA-2, measures dysarthria rather than aphasia, because slurred speech and lost words often arrive together after a stroke and are treated differently.
Aphasia assessment calculators
Each one is free. Open it to take the assessment, get a score, and see what it measures and the evidence behind it.
Take yourself or with family
Clinician-administered
Western Aphasia Battery (WAB)
A full language profile and aphasia quotient.
Philadelphia Naming Test (PNT)
Naming ability across 175 pictures.
Mississippi Aphasia Screening Test (MAST)
A brief screen.
Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test (FAST)
A brief bedside screen.
Geva Inner Speech Battery
Inner speech, relevant to communication and BCI candidacy.
Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (FDA-2)
Motor speech rather than language, for when speech is slurred but wording is intact.
Aphasia questions, answered
What causes aphasia?
Stroke is the leading cause. Aphasia can also appear suddenly after a head injury or brain surgery, develop gradually from a brain tumor and its treatment, or follow a brain infection. One form, primary progressive aphasia, starts as a language problem and worsens over time as part of a dementia.
Can aphasia get better?
Often, yes. Language and communication frequently improve a great deal in the first few months, sometimes without any treatment at all. Speech-language therapy supports that recovery, and abilities can keep improving for many years after the injury.
Which aphasia assessment should I start with?
It depends on how much time you have and what you need to know. A screen such as the FAST or the MAST answers whether aphasia is likely in 5 to 10 minutes. A full battery such as the WAB-R profiles the type and grades the severity, and takes the better part of an hour. The CETI and the SAQOL-39 measure everyday communication and quality of life instead of test performance, and are completed by the person or a family member.
What is the difference between aphasia and dysarthria?
Aphasia is a language disorder. The words themselves are hard to find, understand, read, or write. Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder. The words are intact but the muscles that produce them are weak or poorly coordinated, so speech sounds slurred or strained. The two often occur together after a stroke, and they are measured with different instruments. The FDA-2 is the dysarthria one.
Are these aphasia calculators free?
Yes. Every calculator here is free to take, and each page shows the score, what it means, the administration details, and the published evidence behind the instrument.
Do these calculators diagnose aphasia?
No. They produce reference information for you and your care team. Diagnosis stays with a clinician, usually a speech-language pathologist.
Can a brain-computer interface help with aphasia?
The Brain-Computer Interface Registry connects people with aphasia to trials building new ways to communicate. Complete your assessments once, and be matched to trials as they open.
These calculators use validated instruments and are reference information, not a diagnosis.