• The person may have difficulty thinking of the right word to say, and may sometimes use an incorrect word. Most errors involve using a word related in some way to the target word e.g. ‘dog’ for cat’.
  • The person may speak too much and turn taking may be poor.
  • Changed patterns of intonation during speech may be present.
  • The person may have difficulties interpreting other people’s vocal intonation and facial expressions.
  • The person may struggle to understand and follow long conversations.
  • The person may have problems understanding metaphor/’sayings’ e.g. using phrases such as ‘he’s in a black mood’, ‘it’s a skeleton staff’, ‘I’m over the moon’, ‘he’s got butterflies in his stomach’.  This type of sentence can be confusing and be taken literally.
  • Proverbs (e.g. people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones) can be difficult to interpret.
  • Verbal jokes may not be understood.
  • Inference, polite ‘hints’ may not be understood e.g. ‘it’s a hot day, I’m thirsty’ will be interpreted by most people as a need for a drink, ‘I have a headache, your music is very loud’ will be interpreted by most as a request to turn music down – these ‘hints’ may be missed by the person with Right Hemisphere Communication Disorder. In our polite society we use a lot of inference without even being aware of it.
  • Some people may have difficulty recognising people’s faces (Prosopagnosia) – this may cause some communication difficulties if the person doesn’t recognise who is approaching them, is unsure if they know them and whether they should greet them or not. This may make the person appear rude, unfriendly or reserved, which may not be the case.
  • Aspects of memory and attention may be impaired.