ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly reviews the natural course of aphasia and considers the factors that have a prognostic value, among them rehabilitation. However, what occurs under the heading of aphasia rehabilitation in one place may have nothing in common with what occurs in a different place, except for the fact that a speech therapist and a patient interact with each other. Nevertheless, there are some main approaches to aphasia therapy. Aphasia is a complex process that, with time, generally evolves toward partial remission of the language dysfunction. Even though not much is known about the natural course of aphasia, some of the factors that have prognostic value have been identified and we have some knowledge about the temporal limits of spontaneous recovery and about how language modalities change over time. It is not only the extent of the lesion that plays a role in aphasia outcome; the site of the lesion is also considered important by some authors.
