Acquired aphasia in children

Acquired childhood aphasia is rare but has important conceptual implications for developmental neuropsychology. The last 15 years have seen major changes in their clinical description, which have led to the awareness that the syndromes in acquired childhood aphasia are more similar to the syndromes in adult aphasia than previously thought. This article briefly discusses the definition and differential diagnosis of acquired childhood aphasia from the point of view of the child neurologist and adds new perspectives afforded by neurolinguistic examinations. It reviews the main causes and syndromes of acquired childhood aphasia. Prognosis is less favorable than usually supposed, in terms of both language sequellae and academic failure. Finally, suggestions regarding the basis for aphasic children's nonverbal deficiencies are presented