An examination of the word-finding problems and nonverbal communication in the conversations of three aphasic patients revealed three different patterns of communicative strategies and success in different kinds of activities, such as tests and conversation. One, with mainly a parietal lesion, hesitates often with turn-keeping gestures and stops…

The case study of a 78-year-old music composer who had had a stroke revealed that he had a severe reading disturbance, a well-preserved writing ability, and no appreciable aphasia. He continued to read music and to compose. His text and music reading performance under different conditions suggested that this unusual dissociation (alexia without…

A study investigated outcomes of 20 adults with chronic aphasia 2 years after discharge from an intensive treatment program. Results found 62% of those employed prior to aphasia onset were working at follow-up. Generally, respondents showed higher level of social integration and 85% indicated a positive life satisfaction. (Contains references.)…

Production of complex sentences was studied in two men with agrammatic aphasia. The influence of training question production (wh)-movement structures on untrained wh-movement structures and on noun phrases (NP)-movement structures was investigated. Results indicate that movement to an argument position, as in NP-movement, is distinct from a…

An aphasic patient is described as one whose poor repetition of sentences and of lists of words contrasts with his or her surprisingly good performance on immediate problem recognition tasks. This result is interpreted as suggesting a distinction between phonological input and output buffers. (41 references) (Author/LB)

This article presents data showing that two of the four forms of neuroplasticity, homologous area adaptation and map extension, are relevant to recovery from aphasia. It discusses factors related to neuroplastic activity during language recovery, including neurophysiological, subject, and environmental treatment variables. (Contains references.)…

This article provides examples and illustrations of how people with aphasia can and do demonstrate their competence in managing their lives despite chronic aphasia. It discusses a number of ways in which persons with aphasia and their families can learn to live fully despite the intrusion of aphasia. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Seven papers report on speech language pathology and audiology studies performed by graduate students. The first paper reports on intelligibility of two popular synthetic speech systems used in communication aids for the speech impaired, the Votrax Personal Speech System and the Echo II synthesizer. The second paper reports facilitation of tense…

Five papers describe clinical research completed by graduate students in speech-language pathology and audiology. The first study examines the linguistic input of three adults (a mother, teacher, and clinician) to a language impaired 8-year-old. The clinician's approach, less directive than that of the other two, facilitated spontaneous speech and…

This study investigated two pragmatic profiles (the Pragmatic Profile and the Profile of Communicative Appropriateness) used to assess the language of two aphasic patients. The study examined interscorer reliability, scoring sensitivity, and diagnostic accuracy. Findings indicate that training in scoring these profiles must be uniform, and greater…

This article provides a rationale for changing the base upon which healthcare services for individuals with stroke and aphasia can be provided. It summarizes the interaction between the Aphasia Institute and the West Greater Toronto Stroke Network who worked together to effect meaningful change. A set of guidelines is provided. (Contains…

Discusses recent studies of aphasia from the perspective of theories of normal language structure and processing. Patterns of language breakdown are considered to reflect the componential structure of the language system. Brain damage is seen to fractionate language along lines suggested by existing psycholinguistic models. (Author)

Two studies are reported in which the following theory is tested: the agrammatic sentence form that is observed in the spontaneous speech of Broca's aphasics is attributable to the selection of elliptical syntactic structures in which the slots for many of the closed-class words that appear in complete sentences are lacking. (54 references)…

This book provides an overview of the causes and symptoms, and the typical courses, treatments, and outcomes of neurogenic communication disorders. Chapter 1 reviews the human nervous system and neurologic causes of adult communication disorders. Chapter 2 discusses the neurologic assessment and arriving at a diagnosis, including the neurologist's…

Language disorders in children are one of the most frequent causes of difficulties in communication, social interaction, learning and academic achievement. It has been estimated that over 5% of children present with some kind of language disorder. This volume illustrates the state of the art in neurogenic language disorders in children. The most…