APHASIA

Question 1

Aphasia is…

Answer 1

a language disorder due to brain damage that results in impairment in the comprehension and/or formulation of language and can affect both the spoken and written modalities.

Question 2

The major cause of aphasia is…

Answer 2

cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or stroke.

Question 3

Hemiplegia:

Answer 3

Paralysis on one side of the body.

Question 4

Hemiparesis:

Answer 4

Weakness on one side of the body.

Question 5

Hemianopsia:

Answer 5

Visual field deficit in which an individual cannot see to the right or left of midline in one or both eyes.

Question 6

2 main categories of aphasia:

Answer 6

Non-fluent and Fluent.

Question 7

Differences between Non-fluent and Fluent Aphasia:

Answer 7

Non-fluent is one of poor output with relatively spared comprehension.
Fluent consists of impairment of language comprehension with maintenance of normal melodic speech contour.

Question 8

Neologism:

Answer 8

Invented words that have no true meaning but that adhere to the phonological rules of a given language (seen in fluent aphasia).

Often occurs with nouns and verbs. Ex: When asked to name a picture of a hammock the client responds, “That’s a blick.”

Question 9

Perseveration:

Answer 9

Inappropriate continuation of a response after the presentation of a new stimulus (seen in fluent aphasia).

Ex: After successfully naming a picture of a hammock the client continues to respond “hammock” when shown the next three pictures of a chair, key, and glove.

Question 10

Spontaneous recovery:

Answer 10

Natural recovery process in which the brain regains some of its speech, language, and motor functions.

Question 11

Spontaneous recovery occurs…

Answer 11

during the first 2 months after injury.

Question 12

Overall goal of aphasia therapy is…

Answer 12

to improve a client’s communication skills to the highest degree possible within the constraints of the neurological damage.

Question 13

4 main theoretical orientations to aphasia treatment (and is it disrupted or a loss):

Answer 13

1. Stimulation-facilitation (disrupted pathway)
2. Deblocking (disrupted pathway)
3. Operant conditioning (loss of knowledge)
4. Functional/Compensatory (loss of knowledge)

Question 14

Aphasia therapy focuses on…

Answer 14

improving a client’s abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Question 15

Self-cuing:

Answer 15

A common technique used with clients who present with word-retrieval deficits. These are strategies that can be used by a client to trigger the verbal production of a specific word.

Question 16

4 types of self-cuing (with an example):

Answer 16

1. Automatic sequences (ex: days of the week)
2. Sentence completion (ex: We use a broom to sweep the ____. [floor])
3. Idiomatic expressions (ex: Look before you ____. [leap])
4. Rhyming words (ex: Sounds like fall.)
5. Phonemic cues (ex: initial sound/syllable of target word)

Question 17

Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT):

Answer 17

A deblocking technique that utilizes “intoning” to facilitate verbal expression in clients who demonstrate severely restricted verbal output and relatively good speech comprehension.

(This approach uses variations in pitch, tempo/rhythm, and stress to recruit participation of the right hemisphere to improve verbal production in clients with damage to the language-dominant left hemisphere.)

Question 18

Amer-Ind:

Answer 18

A gestural system based on American Indian Hand Talk in which the gestures stand for basic concepts rather than words.

Each gesture is very concrete and easily recognizable.

Telegraphic in nature in that there is no grammar.

The ultimate aim of this program is for the client to meaningfully use sequences of sign + word combinations.

Question 19

Visual Action Therapy (VAT):

Answer 19

A functional/compensatory approach to aphasia intervention that enhances an individual’s functional communication skills through the use of representational gestures rather than speech.

Focuses on the production of messages at the single gesture level.

Question 20

3 VAT program variations:

Answer 20

1. Proximal limb (gestures composed of gross movements of shoulders, arms, and fingers like sawing).
2. Distal limb (gestures composed of fine movements of the hand and fingers like turning a screwdriver).
3. Bucco-facial (gestures composed of movements of the mouth and face like whistling).

Question 21

Promoting Aphasics’ Communicative Effectiveness (PACE):

Answer 21

Therapy is conducted in the context of naturalistic conversation between the clinician and client.

The goal is to improve a client’s ability to convey intended messages using whatever means of communication available to the individual.