Background: The term progressive apraxia of speech (PAOS) is used to describe speakers presenting with isolated or dominant apraxia of speech in the context of a neurodegenerative syndrome, including primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) and dominant progressive apraxia of speech (DAOS), respectively. Its motor speech profile has been…

Background: Gesture and speech collaborate in conveying meaning, and gesture is often leveraged by people with neurogenic communication disorders, such as aphasia, cognitive-communicative impairments and primary progressive aphasia, when words fail them. Because gesture is imagistic, transitory and holistic, there are inherent challenges when…

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an acquired neurological disorder primarily affecting physical and visual functioning. There is a lack of empirical evidence in the existing literature about the nature of speech, language, and cognitive deficits associated with NMOSD. Hence, this case study provides assessment information about a…

Purpose: This study investigated conflict adaptation in aphasia, specifically whether upregulating cognitive control improves sentence comprehension. Method: Four individuals with mild aphasia completed four eye tracking sessions with interleaved auditory Stroop and sentence-to-picture matching trials (critical and filler sentences). Auditory…

Background: People with aphasia (PWA) typically exhibit deficits in spoken discourse. Discourse analysis is the gold standard approach to assess language deficits beyond sentence level. However, the available discourse assessment tools are biased towards English and European languages and Western culture. Additionally, there is a lack of consensus…

Background: Aphasia, a common consequence of stroke, which affects both communication and social functioning, and in turn, quality of life, is on the rise due to increases in stroke prevalence and survival rate. The rehabilitation of post-stroke aphasia primarily falls within the purview of speech-language pathology and research supports the…

Background: Endovascular clot retrieval (ECR) is known to reduce global disability at 3 months post stroke however limited research exists regarding the trajectory of specific clinical impairments including language, swallowing and cognitive deficits between onset and 3 months. Aims: To assess language, swallowing, and cognitive performance…

Purpose: This article characterizes graduate student clinicians' (GSCs') understanding of their roles as stakeholders in clinical implementation and research before participating in an intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP). Method: Seven GSCs participated in a pre-ICAP intervention focus group to characterize their perceived roles in…

Background: People with post-stroke aphasia tend to have smaller social networks, a higher risk of depression and poorer health-related quality of life than those who do not have aphasia after stroke. Stroke-specific or general rehabilitation programmes offered by community-based organizations are commonly group-based and involve discussions among…

Millions of people worldwide have experienced abrupt and traumatic disruption in the flow of their personal life story as a result of stroke and the onset of aphasia. For each one who survives and embarks on the journey toward recovery, their unique and evolving narrative yields gems of wisdom borne of the experience. This wisdom is shared with…

Purpose: If language production is impaired, will gestures compensate? Evidence in favor of this prediction has often been argued to come from aphasia, but it remains contested. Here, we tested whether thought content not present in speech due to language impairment is manifested in gestures, in 20 people with dysfluent (Broca's) aphasia, 20…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a self-administered naming treatment for one individual, B.N., presenting with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Naming treatment included components of Lexical Retrieval Cascade Treatment and was…

Background: Many speakers with non-fluent aphasia (NFA) are able to produce some well-formed word combinations such as 'I like it' or 'I don't know', although they may not use variations such as 'He likes it' or 'I don't know that person'. This suggests that these utterances represent fixed forms. Aims: This case series investigation explored the…

Background: Narrative discourse is central to effective participation in conversations. When discourse is assessed in people with communication disability, structured tasks (e.g., picture descriptions) provide experimental control, while unstructured tasks (e.g., personal narratives) represent more natural communication. Immersive virtual reality…

Background: Research evidence suggests aphasia therapy must be delivered at high intensity to effect change. Comprehensive therapy, addressing all domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, is also called for by people with aphasia and their families. However, aphasia therapy is rarely intense or…