Bruce Willis‘ openness about a medical condition making it difficult if not impossible for him to communicate is already having a profound effect … folks are learning about the disorder.

The actor was recently diagnosed with aphasia — a language disorder impacting the ability to comprehend words and/or speak — and a recent survey shows more Americans are now aware of the term, and many say they first heard about aphasia with the news about Bruce.

The National Aphasia Association tells us … it just conducted a survey in the wake of Bruce’s announcement — they usually wait 4 years between surveys but changed it up in the wake of media coverage around Bruce — and numbers showed increased awareness across the country, which they found “astounding.”

Some of the findings:

– 68% of people have heard the term “aphasia” … a huge jump from 2020, when only 14% had heard of the condition

– 40% of people are “aphasia aware,” meaning they’ve heard the term and can identify it as a language disorder … a significant increase over 2020, when only 7% were “aphasia aware”

– Significantly fewer people think having difficulties with speech indicates being intellectually deficient, with the number dropping from 42% in 2020 to 21% currently.

We’re told roughly 1 in 5 respondents mentioned Bruce’s name when responding to a question about the last place they remember reading or hearing about aphasia.