Jon Eisenson; Speech Expert in Diagnosis of Childhood Aphasia

Jon Eisenson, 93, a speech expert who helped develop the diagnostic category of childhood aphasia and also taught soldiers with severe brain damage to talk again, died July 27 at his home in Stanford.

A professor emeritus of speech at Stanford University, Eisenson established the Institute for Childhood Aphasia at Stanford in 1962. Aphasia usually results from a brain injury or disease and is characterized by difficulty speaking or understanding language.

He studied the effects of the home environment on children’s speech problems, such as stuttering. A prolific writer, Eisenson wrote several books on aphasia, as well as poetry, children’s volumes and books on aging.

During World War II, he developed a test to assess aphasia in soldiers with severe brain damage, and helped teach them to speak again.

Eisenson was born in New York City and received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Columbia University.