Section 6 Flashcards

1
Q

Define senescence.

A

The progressive deterioration of many bodily functions over time

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2
Q

How can senescence effect motor processes?

A

Sarcopenia - weakness
Controversy about whether slowing and tremor seen in some people with age are a forme fruste (unfinished form) of PD or truly “normal aging”

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3
Q

How can senescence effect sensory processes?

A

Decline in vision, hearing, decreased sensation
In real-world performance, sensory, motor, and cognitive changes interact
E.g., listening to speech in noise:
Bottom-up negative aging effects: Peripheral changes (e.g., presbycusis) + deficits in central auditory processing (e.g., decreased efficiency of temporal and spectral resolution) + cognitive changes (e.g., reduced processing speed, decreased working memory
capacity, inhibitory deficits)
Top-down positive aging effects: Knowledge of language and content, which can bypass perceptual deficits
Age-related visuospatial decline on tasks such as three-dimensional construction and drawing

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4
Q

Howcan senescence effect cognition processes?

A

Slower rate of thinking, impaired memory, diminished ability to learn new things (e.g., languages)
With increasing age, humans slow down psychologically as they do physically
- Slower at perceiving, processing, and reacting to information, particularly when the situation requires rapid processing of complex information
- Healthy, older adults are more variable than younger adults
Main theory of cognitive aging is that it represents reduced inhibition and slow speed, with contributions from perceptual deficits, domain-specific cognitive impairments (e.g., in declarative memory encoding), and reduced cognitive capacity
E.g., more errors reading in noise if words are visually similar than if words are visually different; benefit on cognitive tasks from improved signal:noise ratio

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5
Q

How can senescence impact learning and memory?

A

Aging affects learning/encoding and retrieval of information more than fund of knowledge
(memories)
Slowing in information processing speed may result in a slower learning rate and greater need for repetition of new information
Changes in executive/control aspects of learning may affect learning strategies and therefore depth and rate of encoding new information, transfer of learning to novel situations, and retrieval
of newly learned information
Not all types of learning and memories are equally vulnerable
○ episodic > WM > semantic/lexical memory > procedural memory
Many older persons experience cognitive decline, also known as MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
○ Some debate about whether all MCI is a precursor to Alzheimer-type dementia

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6
Q

How does aging change the brain?

A

Older adults, compared to younger ones, show structural changes in terms of gray and white matter volume reduction or reduced brain connectivity
These age-related changes are often accompanied by performance decline in additional cognitive processes such as executive function (i.e., attentional control, inhibition, working memory, and task monitoring), and episodic memory
Older adults exhibit lower performance than younger ones in lexical retrieval tasks using explicit and effortful paradigms such as picture naming and word naming from definitions
When executive function effects are minimized using tasks that do not require explicit lexical access, such as priming paradigms with word stimuli, studies have often reported comparable
performance in older, and younger participants

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7
Q

What does selective attention require?

A

(a) restricting access of irrelevant information to attention and working memory (i.e., access control);
(b) deleting irrelevant information from attention and working memory (i.e., deletion control); and
(c) restraining strong but inappropriate responses (i.e., restraint control)

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8
Q

What does age-related reduction in inhibitory control lead to?

A

(a) reduced ability to ignore concurrent distraction,
(b) reduced ability to delete information that is no longer relevant to the current task, and
(c) reduced ability to restrain responding when a prepotent response is inappropriate

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9
Q

What aspects of language decline with age?

A

Confrontation naming (word-finding) and generative naming may decline but not so to the extent that it interferes with communication
Language comprehension may be affected if information is complex and presented rapidly
Main effects on language are secondary to slower processing and poorer attention

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10
Q

What are the functions of the brain stem?

A

Conduit for pathways
Corridor for all major sensory, motor, cerebellar and cranial nerve pathways
Location of cranial nerve nuclei
Location of other nuclei with unique functions
Nuclei critical for control of consciousness, cerebellar circuits, muscle tone, and cardiac, respiratory, and other essential functions
Small lesions can result in major deficits involving motor, sensory, and neuroregulatory (e.g.,consciousness) modalities

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11
Q

What is the role of the reticular formation?

A

Core of nuclei that runs through the brainstem
Continuous rostrally with the diencephalon and caudally with the spinal cord
Rostral RF functions with diencephalic structures to maintain alert conscious state of forebrain
Caudal RF works with variety of CN & SN nuclei to carry out reflex, motor, autonomic
functions

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12
Q

Describe Alzheimer’s dementia.

A

Amyloid (A) build up in plaques that can be both a product or a cause of neuronal death (extracellular)
Tau (T) causes neurofibrillary tangles within cells caused by abnormal phosphorylation. This interferes with axonal transport and typically develops first in the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus and basal forebrain.
Inflammation
Neurodegeneration (N) is nerve cell death which is caused by the plaques and tangles resulting in inflammation

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13
Q

Describe frontal temporal dementia?

A

Pickbodies in the cortex with later atrophy of frontal and temporal lobes.

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14
Q

Describe semantic dementia.

A

Bilateral pathology of temporal lobes (left>right), may also affect frontal lobe:
TDP-43

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15
Q

Describe vascular dementia.

A

Focal neurologic signs

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16
Q

Describe lewy body dementia.

A

Neuropathology is distributed in frontal lobe, temporal lobe, basal
ganglia
Protein deposits (Lewy Bodies) in cell bodies

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17
Q

What is spontaneous recovery?

A

Associated with aphasia
No definite predictions concerning its length or extent
Maximum improvement in first 3 months
Probably continues for at least 6 months
In global aphasia, probably starts later, lasts longer; likewise in severe TBI (not in hypoxic injury)
At this point, several aphasia studies have looked at spontaneous recovery in absence of treatment
All support statistically significant improvement in first weeks after stroke

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18
Q

What are some important factors to consider in acute care intervention?

A

Patient status depends on medical factors
For stroke, type of stroke and extent of brain damage
Hemorrhage patients (if they survive) begin spontaneous recovery later, improve more than patients with thromboembolic strokes. True of cortical and subcortical stroke
For other ABI, recovery depends on extent of axonal vs. neuronal damage
Symptoms may evolve rapidly

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19
Q

What structures, aetiologies, and syndromes are commonly involved in language, according to the localization framework?

A

Left hemisphere: stroke and aphasia

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20
Q

What structures, aetiologies, and syndromes are commonly involved in cognition, according to the localization framework?

A

Frontal lobe: TBI and CCD
Right hemisphere: right-hemisphere pathology and RHD
Mesial temporal lobes: neurodegeneration and dementia.

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21
Q

What are some issues with talking commonly seen in aphasia?

A

Can’t think of the words you want to say.
Say the wrong word. Sometimes, you may say something related, like “fish” instead of “chicken.” or you might say a word that does not make much sense, like “radio” for “ball.”
Switch sounds in words. For example, you might say “wish dasher” for “dishwasher.”
Use made-up words.
Have a hard time saying sentences. Single words may be easier
Put made-up words and real words together into sentences that do not make sense.

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22
Q

What are some issues with understanding commonly seen in aphasia?

A

Not understand what others say. This may happen more when they speak fast, such as on the news. You might have more trouble with longer sentences, too.
Find it hard to understand what others say when it is noisy or you are in a group.
Have trouble understanding jokes.

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23
Q

What are some issues commonly seen with reading and writing with aphasia?

A

Reading forms, books, and computer screens.
Spelling and putting words together to write sentences.
Using numbers or doing math. For example, it may be hard to tell time, count money, or add and subtract.

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24
Q

Define dementia.

A

A syndrome resulting from acquired brain disease. It is characterized by a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive domains that, when severe enough, interferes with daily living and independent functioning

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25
Q

What are the diagnostic criteria for major neurocognitive disorder according to the DSM-5?

A

A significant decline from previous levels of performance in one or more cognitive domains,
including complex attention, executive function, learning and memory, language, perceptual motor, or social cognition (preferably documented by standardized testing or clinical assessment);
Cognitive deficits interfere with independence in everyday activities;
Cognitive deficits do not occur exclusively in the context of delirium; and
Cognitive deficits are not better explained by other mental disorders, such as major depressive
disorder or schizophrenia .

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26
Q

How can you differentiate dementia from other temporary or treatable conditions? Name some of those conditions.

A

Behavioural and cognitive symptoms.
Delirium—an acute state of confusion associated with temporary, but reversible, cognitive impairments (Mahendra & Hopper, 2013)
Age-related memory decline
Other conditions that have inconsistent symptoms or are temporary and/or treatable, including: infections (e.g., urinary tract infection [UTI], meningitis, syphilis); toxicity (e.g., drug-induced dementia, toxic metal exposure); vitamin B-12 deficiency; metabolic disorders (e.g., kidney failure); hormonal dysfunction (e.g., thyroid problems); and pseudodementia due to psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, mania, conversion disorders).

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27
Q

Name some neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia.

A

Alzheimer’s disease (leading cause of dementia)
Lewy body disease
Vascular pathology (e.g., multi-infarct dementia)
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)—Pick’s disease (behavioral variant) and primary progressive
aphasia (language variant)
Huntington’s disease
Parkinson’s disease

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28
Q

What does a right hemisphere disorder affect and not affect?

A

Not: syntax, grammar, phonological processing, and word retrieval.
Yes: semantic processing, discourse processing (including narrative), prosody, and pragmatics.
Can also impact other cognitive domains including attention, memory, and executive functioning.
Other impairments include anosagnosia (reduced awareness of deficits) and visual neglect, which can affect spoken and written language.
Can have a significant affect in social and vocational settings.

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29
Q

What is crossed aphasia?

A

In a very small proportion of right-handed individuals, the language centers are located in the right
hemisphere of the brain, rather than in the left hemisphere. In these individuals, damage to the right hemisphere may result in symptoms of aphasia similar to those normally associated with a left
hemisphere lesion.

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30
Q

What are some post injury intersectionalities for TBI?

A
Substance use
Alcohol or other psychoactive substances are involved in most injuries
Mental health problems 
Race 
Poverty 
Homelessness 
Contact with criminal justice system 
TBI-related changes in major contributors to economic status, e.g., employment, housing,
education
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31
Q

What may be included in an assessment for an acquired language disorder?

A

Case history with sufficient background information, including medical, education, auditory, visual, fine/gross motor, and/or cognitive status as available
Assessment of identified areas of communication concerns that prompted the assessment, using
appropriate procedures
Observation of areas of communication function, either formal or informal
Methodology based on sound professional judgement
Adult and family-centred approach addressing all appropriate communication contests
Counselling to address the nature of the communication or related disorder and its impact, recommended follow-up plan, and possible outcomes of the procedures

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32
Q

What are some risks to be wary of during an assessment for an acquired language disorder?

A

Any risks of physical, emotional, or social harm to the adult resulting from screening or
assessment.
Risk of incorrectly conducting the screening/assessment and identifying a disorder that is not
present resulting, for example, in unnecessary concern for the adult
Risk of incorrectly conducting the screening/assessment and not identifying a delay or disorder that is present, resulting in social/educational/vocational consequences associated with untreated communication and/or swallowing disorder
Risks associated with not performing the screening/assessment may result in an untreated disorder

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33
Q

What is the life participation approach?

A

Assessment should include determining relevant life participation needs and discovering competencies of clients → client should be directly involved in treatment planning
Clinicians are equally as interested in assessing how the person with aphasia does with support along with assessing language and communication deficits.

34
Q

What are the core values of the LPAA?

A

Explicit goal of enhancing life participation
Supporting all those affected by aphasia - i.e. offering service to immediate family
Targeting both personal (internal) and environmental (external) factors
Emphasis placed on the availability of all services at all stages of aphasia

35
Q

What is the A-FROM?

A

A-FROM is a framework for measuring aphasia outcomes
It is a user-friendly version of the ICF that is specific to aphasia
In contrast to the ICF, it does not emphasize “body structures and functions”
However, it does emphasize participation, activity, environment, and personal factors
The overlapping circles in this model show explicit interaction between all four factors

36
Q

What are the four domains for the A-FROM and some possible sample questions?

A

Severity of Aphasia (Language and related impairments): how would you rate your talking/reading /writing/understanding?
Participation: Do you get out as much as you want?
Environment: Does your family know how to help you with the aphasia?
Personal: Do you feel that you are in charge of your life? Do you have things you enjoy and look forwards to?

37
Q

What might be some reasons for discrepancies in assessment findings related to interviews?

A

Context of the interview, patient relationship, nature of issue facing the client, estimation of abilities, kickback or resistance from the client towards the other stakeholder (ex. Child to parent), first point of care for head injuries sometimes so they might not recognize the areas of difficulty they are facing, sometimes the stakeholders aren’t the best (ex. Teachers can be great or awful at knowing your
child), interviewing bias

38
Q

What might be some reasons for discrepancies in assessment findings related to standardized tests?

A

Cultural differences, poor literacy skills, only tests that exact situation, administrator of test, presence of distractions, familiarity with test/testing, attitude/mood/fatigue of both clinician and client.

39
Q

What might be some reasons for discrepancies in assessment findings related to non-standardized tests?

A

Difficult to measure progress, contextual issues when they have already met you.

40
Q

Name some factors that can impact an aphasia assessment?

A

Concurrent motor speech impairment (dysarthria, apraxia)
Hearing loss and auditory agnosia
Languages spoken
Concurrent cognitive impairment
Visual acuity deficits, visual agnosia, adn visual field cuts
Upper extremity hemiparesis
Presence of chronic pain from preexisting or new conditions
Poststroke depression
Endurance and fatigue

41
Q

What are the possible results of an assessment?

A

Diagnosis of a language disorder
Description of the characteristics, severity, and functional impact of the language disorder
Prognosis for change
Recommendations for intervention, support, and community resources
Referral for other assessments or services.

42
Q

Why is it not good to do an assessment during an acute phase of recovery?

A

Generally the acute phase is not a good time to do an assessment as things can change rather quickly.
Most studies support statistically significant improvement in the first weeks after stroke.

43
Q

What are some activities you could complete during the acute phase of recovery in lew of an assessment?

A

Informal conversation assessment (instead of standardized assessment)
Each day, you can ask the same questions and document changes that could help give strategies to staff.
Other functional language assessment activities:
- Reading get well cards
- Study and fill in hospital menus
- Use a write board to write families names
- Name objects around the room
- Present commands to be followed
- Check yes/no comprehension and response type
- Track comprehension in conversations

44
Q

What are some supportive conversation techniques?

A

1) Acknowledge the competence of the person
2) Reveal competence: This both helps the person with aphasia understand you better (getting the message in) and enables the person with aphasia to express themselves better (Getting the message out)

45
Q

How might we acknowledge competence?

A

Help the person feel respected and treated as an intelligent adult.
Acknowledge their fears and frustrations
Speak naturally, using an adult tone of voice.

46
Q

How might we reveal competence?

A

Getting the message in:
i) Use short simple sentences and expressive voice
ii) Make sure your message is clear
iii) Talk a little slower
iv) Use easily understood gestures
v) Write keywords in large bold print
vi) Use picture resources and/or a communication book
Getting the message out:
i) Ask yes or no questions and fixed questions
ii) Make sure the client has a way to respond (voice, images, etc.)
iii) Ask the person to give clues verbally (Can you tell me?), with gestures (Can you show me?), or pointing to pictures and objects or your written words (good for fixed choices - ex. Coffee, tea, water?)
iv) Write down any important information, and give the client time to respond.
Verifying information:
i) Summarize slowly and clearly what you think the person is saying
ii) Add gestures and key words as necessary

47
Q

What is the environmental and communication assessment toolkit (ECAT)?

A

Helps identity barrier and facilitators to communication in the environmental
While the ECAT is specifically designed to support long-term care environments, it can be used in other assessments as well
Includes assessment of: signage, time and locations cues, controls of ambient conditions, use of TVs, radios, and telephones, conversation areas, display of personal items, and social environment overview.

48
Q

What are some facilitators to aphasia assessment?

A

Facilitators - family support, availability of communication partners able to provide communication support to persons with aphasia in daily interactions, personal motivation to return to prior level of function, desire for greater communication independence, ability and willingness to use compensatory techniques and strategies, including AAC.

49
Q

What are some barriers to aphasia assessment?

A

Lack of regular and willing communication partners who are able to provide communication support to the person with aphasia in daily interactions, reduced confidence in one’s ability to communicate with familiar and unfamiliar speakers, cognitive deficits, visual and motor impairments, other comorbid chronic health conditions.

50
Q

How can the environment be shapes to support people with aphasia?

A

Make sure verbal instructions are given to clients with written keywords
Make sure any written information given to the client or family are aphasia friendly
Make sure the client has a way to respond to questions
Give the staff easy access to visual aids to support communication
Have staff carry a pad of paper and a black marker
Train staff on how to communicate with individuals with aphasia

51
Q

What are Ylvisaker’s principles of ABI intervention?

A

Positive everyday routines

  1. Antecedent (stimulus) - behaviour - consequence
  2. Importance of control
  3. Hypothesis testing: PIE - Plan (RTSS), Implement, Evaluate (Therapy science)
52
Q

Name and describe a comprehension approach for individuals with aphasia.

A

General comprehension strategies + cueing hierarchies
Comprehension requires a variety of hierarchies to improve.
Activity Hierarchy: pointing tasks → following directions → asking questions → sentence
verification
Cueing hierarchy: verbal and visual cues → gestures → using pictures, diagrams, and real objects
Hierarchy for asking questions: intonation → length and complexity of sentences/vocabulary
→ contextual versus abstract → use of tense.
Murray & Clark suggest these steps:
1. Patients complete written-word-to-picture matching tasks to enhance their reading comprehension skills.
2. Auditory comprehension is stimulated through a process called reauditorization, where patient first reads aloud the items trained in ther eading comprehension step, then
repeats aloud these items when provided with a spoken model and a picture stimulus (often better able to understand a word if they can stay it)
3. Patient completes spoken-word-to-picture matching tasks.

53
Q

Provide an example of a general comprehension strategy?

A
For a person whose auditory comprehension of single words (e.g., “dog”) and carrier phrases (e.g., “show me the dog”, “point to the dog”) is inconsistent, there is no better than
chance level (guessing). 
1. Visual cue (picture of dog) + Verbal cue (“dog”)+ Gesture (clinician points to dog, can carry patient’s hand to picture to point) → continue for all six cards
2. Visual cue (picture of dog)+ Verbal cue (“dog”)
3. Choice of two cards (dog or cat) - using visual cue (2
cards), verbal cue (“dog”), +
gesture (point to dog)
4. Choice of two cards (dog or cat) - using visual cue (2 cards) + verbal cue (“dog”) The purpose would be for the client to point to the correct answer.
5. Step up to carrier phrase
(“show me the dog” - with 2
choice cards - dog or cat) -
would start with gesture, verbal, and visual cue
6. Decrease cues - “show me the dog”, only using verbal and visual cue (maintain 2 choices)
54
Q

Name some word finding interventions for aphasia.

A

Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST)

Semantic Feature Analysis

55
Q

Describe VNeST.

A

Focuses on verbs, encouraging participants to think of the people who
perform the actions (agents) and the objects or people the actions are performed on (patients).
Connections to nouns will strengthen all the words in the mental network around the verb
Does not use pictures as it is meant to activate the mental images and words in the brain and encourage flexible
thought
Evidence that findings generalize beyond the words work on in therapy
Effective in mild to moderate-severe aphasia.
Goal: To promote sentence production and connected speech

56
Q

Describe semantic feature analysis.

A

Based on the principles for spreading activation theory (SAT).
If we are thinking about the word in terms of semantic category (e.g. how it is used,
features, where it is found), we can help the PWA with word retrieval by activating
associated words with their neural networks to reach the target word.
Enables patients to use and practice circumlocution to help move conversation
forwards, even if the target word is not found.
May be effective for words PWA have not used previously with this approach.
Also demonstrated that the effects of using this approach are generalizable: PWA who have practice this approach for certain words have more success with word-finding for words that are semantically related to the words they practice with than they have with words not semantically related.
May be effective in training communication partners in learning what questions to ask when the client is struggling to find a word.

57
Q

What are the steps to Semantic Feature Analysis

A

1) Graphic organizer is shown to PWA with a picture of the object in the centre
(see below for image)
2) The PWA tries to name the item in the picture (move on regardless of response)
3) Ask each of the questions around the picture, writing the correct answers as they’re discussed. Give clues when needed. (Keep going even if they name the object)
4) The PWA tries to name the picture again. If they can’t say it on their own,
have them repeat after you.

58
Q

What are the major aspects of counselling?

A

Receiving information the client and family want to share with you
Giving information
Clarifying attitudes, beliefs and emotions
Providing options for changing behaviours

59
Q

Name and describe a therapy approach for targeting utterance length for individuals with aphasia.

A

Response elaboration training.
Designed to help clients with non-fluent aphasia increase the amount of information they share about a topic and the length of their utterances.
Relies on clinician responses and prompts to model and promote increased verbal expression.
Considered an informal training program and
involves incidental learning and positive reinforcement for correct responses.
Focuses on content rather than form.

60
Q

What are the steps to response elaboration training?

A
  1. Present a picture scene to the client. Prompt the client for a response (e.g., “Tell me about this picture”, “What does this remind you of?”, “Tell me what is happening”)
  2. Repeat what the participant had said, and reinforce it (e.g. “Man… great
    that’s a man”.
  3. Ask the client to elaborate on what they had said from Step 1 using wh-questions.
  4. Reinforce the client’s utterance from Step 3 then model a phrase/sentence
    which combines the client’s
    productions from Steps 1 and 3 (e.g., “ Right, shaves, Man shaves”).
  5. Provide a model of the combined production again, and request the client to repeat it.
  6. Take away the picture, wait ~5 seconds, bring the picture back and ask the client again to describe the picture.
61
Q

Name and describe an approach to targeting reading and writing in PWA.

A

Reading and writing stimulation.
This approach aims to develop a systematic, client-specific hierarchy of massed reading and writing practice.
This involves considering various aspects of reading difficulty, including length, relative frequency of words, ability to use context and
prior knowledge, as well as the client’s current level of independent reading comprehension.
Considerations for writing difficulties:
- Commonness of spelling
- Relative frequency of words
Example:
1. Copy single short relevant
words with reference photo,
onto dashed lines (one line per letter)
2. Copy single short relevant
words with reference photo,
onto one long line
3. Write single short relevant
word from relevant photo
4. Copy longer relevant word, or two short relevant words with reference photo, onto dashed line (one per letter)
5. Copy longer or pairs of words onto long line
6. Write longer relevant word, or two short relevant words from reference photo

62
Q

Name an approach to targeting reading comprehension in PWA.

A

Oral reading for language in aphasia (ORLA)
Aim is to improve reading comp. by providing practice in grapheme to phoneme conversion
The backing idea is that as oral reading becomes more fluent, the reader can focus on comprehension.
It focuses on reading full sentences rather than single words with the goal of also improving intonation and prosody.
Levels:
- Level 1. Simple 3-5 word sentences at a first grade reading level.
- Level 2. 8-12 words that may be single sentences or two short sentences, at a
third grade reading level
- Level 3. 15-30 words, divided into 2-3 sentences, at a sixth grade reading
level
- Level 4. 50-100 words comprising a 4-6 sentence simple paragraph

63
Q

What are the steps to ORLA.

A
  • SLP uses a whiteboard to write a sentence (4 words in length)
  • SLP reads the stimulus out loud
  • SLP reads stimulus aloud to patient with SLP and patient pointing to each word
  • SLP and patient read allowed together, with patient continuing to point to each word
  • SLP adjusts rate and volume
  • Steps above are repeated twice more.
  • For each line or sentence, the SLP states a word for the patient to identify
  • Pt reads stimulus aloud with SLP reading aloud as needed
64
Q

Name and describe a therapy approach for targeting speaking fluency in PWA.

A
Melodic intonation therapy. 
This approach is effective for improving production of words and phrases in multiple aphasia profiles and
improving the intelligibility of dysarthric speech. 
Hierarchy (see below from image):
Level 1 & 2:
1. Humming
2. Unison intoning
3. Unison intoning with fading
4. Immediate repetition
5. Response to question
Level 3: Delayed repetition
Level 4: Fading into normal prosody.
Key components: intensive, structured language requirements, exaggerated tone/intonation, choral/unison singing/intoning, repetition.
65
Q

Name and describe a therapy approach to increase MLU in PWA.

A

Intensive language action therapy (ILAT) focuses on intensive verbal practice, usually involving repetitive language action games (LAGs) → also known as
constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT).
It discourages any form of non-verbal communication (including gestures) or
compensatory strategies.
The underlying principles include intensive (massed) practice, communication embossing, and guidance by constraint (focusing on
speech).
The LAGs consist of a communicative goal
(such as requesting/passing an object/card) and begins with using short words/phrases before progressing to longer, more complicated utterances. During these activities, participants sit around a table with barriers between them.
Rules are introduced by playing the game - starting with barriers and cards in front of each participant, the therapist will begin by modeling the rules of the game vs. explaining.
If the person is struggling to come up with words or phrases they are looking for, you can use the cueing hierarchy to substep (see
image below table).

66
Q

Name and describe an approach targeting conversation in PWA.

A

This is a client-centered strategy that focuses
on functional communication.
The client will identify daily situations where a script would be beneficial (e.g. ordering a coffee, talking on the phone, going shopping).
The clinician moves through various steps to build the client’s independence with the script, targeting one short sentence at a time.
The underlying principles for this approach is the lexical-semantic approach, which focuses on improving output content at the discourse level by focusing on meaningful segments rather than single words, and the instance theory of automatization, the belief that automatic processing is fast and effortless and
that memories are formed with repeated exposure to a consistent task, like the script.

67
Q

What are the steps to script training?

A
  1. The client will attend to the clinician modeling the first sentence of the script
    with the clinician.
  2. The client and clinician say the sentence together.
    - Substep = if they struggle, break it down and blend it
    together.
  3. The clinician fades support at the end of the sentence (begin by saying the sentence together, and the client finishes the sentence on their own).
  4. The client reads the sentence off a cue-card independently.
  5. The client says the sentence independently without the cue card.
68
Q

Name some possible interventions for Moderate-severe ABI.

A
Partner training
Environmental modifications
Metacognitive strategy training
Identity mapping
External aids
Cognitive training software
69
Q

Describe partner training and provide some examples.

A

This involves providing strategies for communication
partners to help facilitate transmission and receiving of
information.
This approach focuses on adapting the environment/ situation to facilitate communication.
Heavily ICF focused as it emphasizes the environment/ personal factors in order to identify barriers/facilitators to communication.
Key aspects:
- Educating on communication challenges individual may experience
- Identifying communicative behaviours that disrupt
communication and working to mitigate them.
- Providing structured training in the behaviours that support successful interactions.
Examples: Learning effective listening and speaking skills
Asking positive questions
Learning how to keep
conversation going with turn
taking.
Supportive conversation training (similar to training provided for clients with aphasia).

70
Q

What are some environmental modifications for ABI?

A

Involves teaching clients and communicative partners how to alter their physical environment to maximize client’s cognitive and communication abilities.
The clinician will assess the environment and determine if modifications are necessary and which modifications will facilitate effective communication and completion of daily
activities.
This approach can be useful in reducing specific behaviours both in frequency and severity.
Examples: altering acoustic environment, reducing distractions, implementing tools, strategies, or resources to facilitate communication and organization.

71
Q

Describe metacognitive strategy training.

A

This approach includes: (1) being able to monitor thoughts and (2) using that information to make changes and improve behaviours
The core principle revolves around teaching self-monitoring and self-regulation through thoughts and actions during an
activity.
This approach is generally compensatory but strategies can be generalized to target processes that are similar across tasks.
There may be impairment-based improvement as well,
supporting a restorative aspect to this approach.
Two main strategy categories:
- Task-specific: eg. reading comprehension strategy
to improve understanding.
- General strategies: e.g. assist with the completion
of a variety of asks (eg. self-monitoring that can be
used to teach any routine)

72
Q

Describe identity mapping.

A

Take the idea of identity and provide a way of collaborating with a client to identify an alter ego based on someone/ something that they admire (see below table for an example map).
This approach focuses on the client’s values and personal heroes, and creates goals that center around everyday activities.
Key Steps:
- Talking to client about desirable activities to identify
their personal centre- their hero
- Discussing facts about their hero and associations with the client’s own life.
- Talk about relevant associations with being their
hero.
- Talk about goals associated with being their hero.
- Talk about how the client would feel if they were able to achieve those goals.
- Talk about various actions and action strategies that
would be necessary/useful in achieving these goals.

73
Q

What is cognitive training software?

A

This approach involves apps and programs meant to
challenge specific cognitive abilities through tasks such as
remembering names and patterns.
This rests on the assumption that regular and prolonged
training on computerized tasks will result in improvements, not only on the trained tasks but also on
untrained/unrelated tasks across different cognitive
domains.
Focus of many is short-term memory as it is considered to be the critical cognitive domain underlying generalizable gains in cognition.
Works on two notions:
1. That short-term memory can be improved and
2. That short term memory is closely related to other
higher-order cognitive abilities, such as attention,
reasoning, problem solving, executive processes,
multitasking, and even general intelligence.

74
Q

What are the 3 components of dementia intervention?

A
  1. Memory Training (Spaced retrieval, errorless learning, vanishing cues)
  2. Environmental and Partner Supports (discussed in interventions for ABI listed above + brief description listed below)
  3. LEEPs
75
Q

Describe spaced retrival.

A

A method used to teach new information and skills to people with memory problems.
The goal is for the person to remember and recall information over long amounts of time.
Steps:
1) Identify the information, habit, or skill you want the person to remember and how they will be cued to remember (eg. walk in the door (cue), hand the keys on the hook (response).
2) Practice the cue-response pair over longer and longer time intervals. First show the cue-response, then give the cue and ask for the response, keep increasing the time between each
cycle.
3) If the person gives the wrong response or struggles to remember, stop them immediately. Show the correct pair and have them produce the response, then return to the last time
interval.
4) Generally stop at a 16 minute interval.
5) At the end of every session, add up the number of errors and correct responses. If errors > correct responses, the pair is not
the best fit for the person and needs to be changed.
6) The goal is considered learned when the cue is presented to the person first thing the next day and they give the correct response.

76
Q

Describe errorless learning.

A

The clinician uses cues and instructional strategies to minimize the chance of the client making errors.
Based on the idea that to learn and retain new information, persons with memory deficits should engage in “errorless” practice with the new
information.
Declarative memory deficits prevent self-monitoring and correcting of responses during training; therefore errors during training must be inhibited by now allowing a time delay before the response and not prompting with a hierarchy of cues, (i.e not allowing for the incorrect
response).
Has been shown to be effective in several studies, more so than errorful
learning.
Idea is that you interrupt prior to the person making a mistake.
Often used in conjunction with other methods.

77
Q

Describe vanishing cues.

A

Another way to conduct errorless learning that is designed for more complex information or behaviours.
The client is provided with enough information to provide the correct response on the initial trial.
Over several successful trials, the information is gradually withdrawn and the client is required to respond with fewer cues.
If the client finds this difficult, cues are added and then faded.

78
Q

What is LEEPS?

A

LEEPS stands for Language Enriched Exercise Plus Socialization.
Language enriched exercises combine language-based cognitive activities and physical exercises.
It is implemented through a specific protocol designed, outlined, and used in research that allows for flexibility and scaled activities based on individual factors, degree of disease progression, and real life factors.
LEEPs involves socialization through community involvement and volunteering, creating a
positive communication environment.
The idea behind this is to get people up, moving and socializing while they undergo therapy.

79
Q

What are some considerations when choosing a delivery model?

A

Severity of impairment (are they capable of benefiting from a group setting?)
Funding:
- Do they have insurance?
- What is going to be the best use of their money and time?
Are there other issues that are more pressing to address?
- Swallowing or motor issues
- Other serious medical complications that may be of higher priority
Living arrangements:
- Location
- Access to transportation
- Mobility
- Comfort with technology
Self-awareness of impairments

80
Q

What is project-based therapy?

A

Project based therapy is an approach that relies on the idea of participation to learn, where the ABI patient participates in valued, real life roles and learning is a result of that experience. This reduced the need for generalization. The role of the therapist to support them and enable their success.
This support can also be provided by family, friends, and colleges and can involve training them to assist directly or adapting to the environment.
Project-based therapy uses life activities/interests as goals, where the client chooses an activity that is an important role in their ordinary life.

81
Q

What are the simplified stages of awareness?

A

Intellectual: E.g. Sometimes I forget things
Emergent: E.g. Mom called because I am supposed to come for dinner, I totally forgot
Anticipatory: E.g. Writing down details of a meeting in a day planner and setting an alarm