Purpose: Neurogenic speech and language disorders--such as acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) and aphasia with phonemic paraphasia (APP)--are often misdiagnosed due to similarities in clinical presentation. Word syllable duration (WSD)--a measure of average syllable length in multisyllabic words--serves as a proxy for speech rate, which is an…

Purpose: Limited research exists assessing speech perception in school-age children with speech sound disorder (SSD) and childhood apraxia of speech (CAS); despite early evidence that speech perception may lead to error-prone motor planning/programming. In this study, we examine speech perception performance in school-age children with and without…

Background: People with aphasia (PWA) frequently experience difficulties in understanding longer written content such as paragraphs or books. Reading strategies are a promising approach to treat text-level reading comprehension deficits in PWA. Nevertheless, empirical evidence for their efficacy remains rare. Aims: The primary objective of this…

Purpose: To date, there are no automated tools for the identification and fine-grained classification of paraphasias within discourse, the production of which is the hallmark characteristic of most people with aphasia (PWA). In this work, we fine-tune a large language model (LLM) to automatically predict paraphasia targets in Cinderella story…

Background: There is a growing body of evidence showing the value of community singing-based rehabilitation on psychosocial well-being and communication for people with post-stroke communication impairment (PSCI). However, there has been little consideration of the potential value an inpatient aphasia-friendly choir may have through the…

Background: The abbreviated version of the Token Test (aTT) is widely used to assess language comprehension deficits in stroke patients (SPs). However, aTT has not been validated for Latin American Spanish speakers, so clinicians tend to use cut-off scores for aTT validated in developed countries. Aims: To provide normative data for the Spanish…

Background: Persons with aphasia (PWA) experience a number of communicative and social-emotional challenges. Reported experiences of PWA include but are not limited to, being misunderstood, isolated, frustrated, and infantilised. Aims: The aim of this pilot study, involving a Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA), conducted over the course…

Purpose: Speech--Music Therapy for Aphasia (SMTA), a method that combines speech therapy and music therapy, is introduced as a treatment method for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). SMTA will be evaluated in a proof-ofprinciple study. The first case study is presented herein. Method: SMTA was evaluated in a study with a single-subject…

Background: People with aphasia (PWA) can experience functional numeracy difficulties, that is, problems understanding or using numbers in everyday life, which can have numerous negative impacts on their daily lives. There is growing interest in designing functional numeracy interventions for PWA; however, there are limited suitable assessments…

Background: Engagement is recognized as an important factor in aphasia treatment response and outcomes, yet gaps remain in our understanding of engagement and practices that promote engagement from the client perspective. Aims: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how clients with aphasia experience engagement during their…

It is well known that persons with aphasia (PWA) demonstrate deficits in sentence processing. Specifically, many show difficulties with syntactic re-analysis, or the ability to revise one's interpretation of a sentence due to a temporary ambiguity. Emerging evidence suggests that structural priming, individuals' tendency to unconsciously re-use a…

Background: Word retrieval skills change across the lifespan. Permanent alterations in the form of decreased accuracy or increased response time can be a consequence of both normal ageing processes or the presence of acquired and neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., aphasia and dementia). Despite the extensive literature exploring the…

Background: There is increasing interest in the incorporation of animal-assisted services (AAS) in therapy for adults with acquired neurogenic communication disorders. AAS have the potential to enhance speech and language therapy engagement and outcomes. However, a greater understanding of the nature and potential benefits of these interventions…

Background: Based on stakeholder conversations, speech and language therapists have anecdotally observed cases of dysphagia with suspected laryngeal hypersensitivity. These presentations have been coined as 'muscle tension dysphagia' often with concurrent laryngeal sensitivity symptoms. However, the role of laryngeal hypersensitivity in dysphagia…

Background: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a rare neurodegenerative brain disorder characterized by declining language ability. There is currently no way to reverse or slow the course of the progressive brain degeneration, nor is there a cure for PPA. Throughout the course of the disease, any treatment must therefore be palliative in nature…