Finding the correct names to label objects is often difficult for people with aphasia. Set out several different objects as well as pictures of people showing different emotions. For an easy version, ask the person to point to objects with a sentence such as, "Point to the apple." A more difficult version of this exercise is to ask the person to point to the picture of someone who is sad, depressed, angry or so on. Young children can benefit from this activity to expand their comprehension of objects and emotions.
Naming synonyms, or words that share a meaning, improves memory as well as word comprehension. Naming synonyms or engaging in word-association therapy can also be helpful for couples learning to understand each other. For example, ask each partner to share different words that mean "love," "caring" or "trust." They can explain their responses to help their partner better understand them.
Activities that require a person guess or infer the answer or outcome requires a higher level of thinking. Give the person some information, such as "The man focused the lens before taking a picture," then ask what type of equipment the man was using. The answer is "a camera." The activity can be adapted to make it more or less difficult according to the person's ability.
Read or tell a story, then ask the other person to tell you what it meant instead of just repeating back the information. For example, choose a children's fable with a moral, like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" from Aesop's Fables. When you finish reading, ask the person what the moral, or lesson, was. For a more-advanced version of this activity, couples therapists ask one partner to first listen and repeat, then validate and finally empathize with what the other person says.