How to Help at Home: Speech Therapy Activities for Aphasia

If someone you love has aphasia after a stroke, brain injury, or brain tumor, you’ve probably asked:

“How can I help with speech therapy practice at home?”

So today, I want to share some ideas for things you can do at home to help with speech and language recovery.

Want to Watch Instead?

If you’d rather see me explain and demonstrate these ideas, you can watch the video here:

🎥 How to Help at Home – Speech Therapy Activities for Aphasia

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Step 1: Matching Objects

For someone with severe or global aphasia, I like to start with a non-language task.

Gather pairs of objects—anything you have around the house will work.

Scatter them on the table, and have your loved one match the pairs. That’s it. No talking required! This activity builds early success, and sets you up to continue matching tasks that are a little bit harder.

The easiest version of this task is to use identical pairs of objects (things that look exactly the same!). To make it just a little bit harder, use pairs of objects that look different (ex: a large purple comb and a small black comb).

You can also make it more difficult by adding more objects to the table. Adding more objects can also help improve visual scanning if your loved one has visual deficits.

Step 2: Add Language

When matching objects feels easy, you can bring in a little bit of language.

• Clear away all the extra items.

• Take just one pair at a time.

• Hold one object, give them the other.

• Say the word (Ex: "cup")

• Wait. Give them time to repeat.

  
  

And if the word doesn’t come? That’s okay.

Sometimes it helps to point to your mouth and have them watch your lips closely. But if it doesn't happen after 2 tries, move on to the next word. The goal here is practice, not pressure.

Step 3: Reading Practice

If you want to add another layer, try a little bit of reading.

• Take one of each object (you no longer need pairs!)

• Write the names of the objects on index cards.

• Ask your loved one to match the written words to the correct objects.

• If they don't understand, do an example for them.

  
  

Don’t jump in too fast if they get one wrong! Sometimes they’ll catch it and fix the error themselves. (This is exactly what we want 🙌)

If your loved one looks frustrated, sad, or completely unsure how to start the task, reading might be too hard right now. Try a different activity. You can always come back to this later.

Step 4: Copying Words

Next up: writing.

Put one object and the notecard with the word written on it in front of your loved one. Ask them to copy it onto a piece of paper or dry erase board. If they don't understand, do an example for them.

Tip: A dry erase board with a thicker marker is often easier than a pencil, especially if they’re using their non-dominant hand after a stroke.

It’s normal for longer words to be harder – even when just copying. Encourage them to double-check their work, and help fill in missing letters as needed.

If writing is too hard right now, try using Bananagrams letter tiles! (If you'd like a whole video about this, watch me explain in more detail here.)

• Show them the object and the written word.

• Hand them the scrambled tiles for that word.

• Have them put the letters in order to spell it.

  
  

This step takes some of the pressure off handwriting while still building spelling skills. Once they’ve spelled it with tiles, you should also have them copy the word on paper.

Step 5: Recall Practice

When matching, copying, and spelling are all going smoothly, try memory recall.

• Show them the object and the word.

• Let them study it for a moment.

• Then cover or remove the word.

• Ask them to spell or write it on their own.

  
  

It’s very common for people to start a word and then get stuck. That’s okay. You can give a hint, like the first letter, or show the word again so they can keep practicing.

Make It Personal

The best part of this kind of practice is that you can use objects from daily life. That makes it more motivating and more useful to your loved one.

Think about things like:

• Glasses, favorite coffee mug, or keys

• Dog leash, collar, or food bowl

• Gardening tools

• Toolbox items

• Objects from hobbies: sewing, fishing, cooking, etc.

  
  

Anything that matters in their day-to-day life can become part of your speech and language practice.

A Few Reminders

• Watch your loved one’s body language. If they’re frustrated or tired, it’s okay to stop.

• Don’t push harder than they want to go.

• Keep the practice low-stress. Success matters more than perfection.

  
  

With just a handful of everyday objects, you can support talking, reading, writing, and spelling—all at home. Start easy, build in little steps, and most of all, keep it encouraging.

Why These Activities Work

These tasks aren’t just busywork. They’re based on how the brain recovers language after injury:

• Repetition builds pathways

• Multi-sensory input (seeing, touching, saying, writing) strengthens learning

• Familiar and relevant items activate meaningful memories and vocabulary

  
  

This kind of supported practice is a powerful way to help someone with aphasia keep moving forward.

More Help for Aphasia Recovery

If you’re looking for more ways to support aphasia recovery, Aphasia with Bri offers:

• Free, interactive YouTube videos for people with aphasia

• Pay-what-you-want companion worksheets

• Recommendations for tools and resources (plus how to actually use them)

• Tips for caregivers, friends, and family who want to help

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