Acquired Childhood Aphasia with Focus on Landau-Kleffner Syndrome

“Aphasia is the neurological term for any language disorder that results from brain damage
caused by disease or trauma.”1 The disorder is not exclusively found in adults, but may
also occur in children. To lose the ability to understand and produce language may be a
major catastrophe for children and has enormous consequences for their whole life, even if
speech is regained after some time.2 Therefore, it is astonishing how little is known about
the subject and how controversially it is discussed in literature. This paper introduces into
acquired childhood aphasia with focus on a syndrome called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, in
which aphasia and epilepsy are combined. Landau-Kleffner Syndrome will be discussed in
regard to symptoms, aetiology, therapy and prognosis. Moreover, it will be compared to
other forms of acquired childhood aphasia.