Being able to communicate in your own language is a basic human right and essential for taking part in everyday life. In Norway, around 4,000 people develop aphasia every year. Aphasia is a language difficulty, often caused by stroke, that can affect both understanding and speaking.

We know very little about aphasia among Sámi people, but research shows that the risk of stroke is higher. At the same time, many Sámi report that healthcare services do not meet their cultural and language needs, and that suitable Sámi‑language resources are missing.

SÁMI‑CAT is the first project to develop aphasia assessment tools for speakers of North Sámi. The project includes four work packages, ranging from building language technology infrastructure to adapting and testing assessment tools for use in small, multilingual communities.

SÁMI‑CAT also contributes to international research on aphasia across languages and explores how to design reliable language tests for speakers of minority languages. Close collaboration with Sámi communities helps ensure that the tools are both linguistically accurate and culturally appropriate.