What happened to my nouns?

Posted by RichardTaylor at 28th September, 2009

What happened to my nouns? You know the words that refer to a person, place or thing? They are supposed to appear near the beginning of every declarative sentence. “Jason called while you were out shopping.” Now is “…pause…pause…called while you were out shopping.” My sentences now sometimes, especially when I am tired, sound like someone throwing a pair of dice in the dark. You know they have been thrown, you can hear the clicking, but you don’t know exactly what was thrown because you are standing in the dark.

Nouns are important! The lack of them makes for broken conversations. Conversations broken before they even started. “What are you talking about?” someone asks me. “You know …called…pause…pause someone, our son called while you were out shopping.” I respond.

It’s confusing and sometimes irritating to others when I talk this way. It’s confusing and always irritating to me when I talk this way. Sometimes I know I am doing it, and just can’t find the noun. Sometimes I don’t know I am doing, but do it anyhow. Sometimes I deny doing it after someone questions me.

This doesn’t seem to happen to me when I write. It doesn’t happen to me when I am reading aloud from a book or newspaper or speech. It doesn’t seem to happen to me in the mornings. I’m scared it happens more than I know. I’m fearful this is an early warning sign of aphasia. Talking is how I now earn a modest living. Talking is how I interact with my world, with my family, with my friends.

What if I can no longer speak in complete sentences?

What if I can’t speak at all, just huff and puff?
What if?

Richard