1. Acquired language Disorders
aphasia…and

2. important ideas about aphasia
…is a symbolic disruption
…is acquired
…involves any or all language modalities
comprehension: auditory, reading, signed/visual
expression: oral, writing, signed/manual
…is not a problem of sensation or intellect

3. Common causes of aphasia
CVA
TBI
tumors
infections
epilepsy
Over 1,000,000 individuals with the US have aphasia
- National Aphasia Association

4. describing aphasia various impairments in any/all language modalities
the most commonly observed deficits are in naming and auditory processing
generally describe an the language profile as:
fluent/receptive;
nonfluent/expressive; or
severe or global
Hegde (1998); Brookshire (1997)

5. General symptoms: Impairments impacting language use include:
impaired auditory comprehension
anomia: word retrieval/naming difficulty
paraphasias: word or sound substitutions
agrammatism: asyntactic production (or reduced syntax)
reading and writing disruptions

6. the WHO ICF Functioning and Disability Contextual Factors
body functions and structures
activity and participation
Contextual Factors
environmental factors
personal factors

7. Treatment and assessment - Linking the WHO ICF
restorative/process oriented approaches – impairment (body structure/function)
approaches aimed at improving underlying motor or cognitive processes, resulting in generalized improvement in function
skills based/compensory approaches – activity/participation
approaches that train a new skill/behavior -or- alternative method for communicating
participation focused approaches – participation
approaches focused on improved community participation and quality of life

8. case example

9. Multiple oral rereading
WHO ICF: impairment
target: increased access to whole words in the lexicon, resulting in faster reading
candidates: traditionally, clients with pure alexia who read letter-by-letter
outcome: faster reading of novel text; improved comprehension
Basic MOR procedure
determine rate and accuracy for a passage
have patient re-read text, cueing to correct reading errors
setup homework – copied text and log
----
review homework log
probe rate and accuracy of practiced passage
determine target rate (e.g., 75 wpm); provide new passage when criterion is reached

10. Anagram and copy Treatment (ACT)
WHO ICF: activity/participation
target: improved representation of single words in the lexicon (thereby increasing access)
candidates: clients with little to no writing, but who show abilities with writing letters and letter identification; ability to complete homework
outcome: independent writing of functional single words for everyday communication