Effects of Semantic + Multimodal Communication Program for Switching Behavior in Severe Aphasia

Treatment for severe aphasia includes teaching alternative modalities to improve communicative effectiveness by circumventing deficits in verbal expression. Traditionally, alternative communication modalities are trained separately to augment or replace verbal output. However, adults with aphasia often have executive function deficits, specifically deficits in cognitive flexibility, which affect the communicative flexibility of the individual. The result is an inability to switch to a previously learned alternative modality when a communication breakdown occurs. This study explored a combined semantic + multimodal communication program (S+MCP) for an individual with severe aphasia and coexisting semantic deficits. The effect of S+MCP on his ability to switch between modalities when an initial communication attempt failed was examined during a referential communication task and administration of the CADL-2 with modified scoring. The participant demonstrated increased switching behavior between modalities during both tasks, and increased use of combined modalities (e.g., verbal plus gesture).

Name thesis:degree_name

MS

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Carr, Shannon A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Wallace
• Diane Williams
• Caterina Staltari

• Aphasia
• Cognitive flexibility
• Multimodal
• Semantic
• Severe
• Switching

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/380

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1393