Word deafness

A specific type of auditory agnosia in which a person can hear speech sounds but cannot comprehend spoken words, despite having normal hearing and the ability to read, write, and speak. People with word deafness describe speech as sounding like an unfamiliar foreign language or meaningless noise. This condition can occur in dementia, particularly frontotemporal dementia, or following stroke. For technology accessibility, word deafness means voice interfaces and audio instructions are inaccessible; visual text, captions, and written instructions become the primary communication channels.