The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interface display and respondent group on listener attitudes toward and perceived communicative competence of persons with aphasia. The Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Persons scale and the Communicative Competence Scale was used to measure listener attitudes and communicative competence,…

The definitions and features of "resilience," the process and outcome of successfully responding to adversity, are variable across the disability and rehabilitation literatures, and its influence on aphasia treatment and outcomes is as of yet unknown. This scoping review identified and thematically categorized characterizations and…

Purpose: Motivation is a complex phenomenon that can influence a person's ability to make progress in treatment. We sought to understand how motivation is currently measured and utilized in aphasia rehabilitation by identifying treatment studies that (1) include measurement of motivation and (2) use motivation to predict treatment response.…

Background: Speech and language therapists (SLTs) use videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) results to manage dysphagia. Yet, in some services only doctors can directly request a VFSS, potentially creating workflow inefficiencies and delaying patient access to VFSS. An alternative model, where SLTs directly refer patients for VFSS, is used in…

Background: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) describes a group of language-led dementias. PPAs are complex, diverse and difficult to diagnose, and therefore conventional models of aphasia and dementia treatment do not meet their needs. The research evidence on intervention for PPA is developing, but to date there are only a few case studies…

Background: In everyday conversations, a person with aphasia (PWA) compensates for their language impairment by relying on multimodal and material resources, as well as on their conversation partners. However, some social actions people perform in authentic interaction, proposing a joint future activity, for example, ordinarily rely on a speaker…

Background: Online knowledge translation (KT) approaches are becoming increasingly prevalent within healthcare due to their accessibility and facilitation of international support networks. Online platforms enable timely and far-reaching dissemination of current evidence and best-practice recommendations. Although there is potential to improve the…

Background: Reading comprehension is frequently impaired in persons with aphasia (PWA). For goal-setting and outcome measurement, speech and language therapists (SLTs) need to determine an individual's perspective of their reading difficulties and everyday reading activities. The Comprehensive Assessment of Reading in Aphasia (CARA) reading…

Purpose: Item response theory (IRT) is a modern psychometric framework with several advantageous properties as compared with classical test theory. IRT has been successfully used to model performance on anomia tests in individuals with aphasia; however, all efforts to date have focused on noun production accuracy. The purpose of this study is to…

Purpose: Lexical processing impairments such as delayed and reduced activation of lexical-semantic information have been linked to syntactic processing disruptions and sentence comprehension deficits in individuals with aphasia (IWAs). Lexical-level deficits can also preclude successful lexical encoding during sentence processing and amplify the…

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the small but growing literature on the rehabilitation of language for older adults, as well as evaluate the clinical utility of a functional approach to language assessment. The study included an assessment-based response profile that informed individualized treatment targets and prompt selection,…

Background: People with language impairments are at a higher risk of receiving inappropriate or inadequate healthcare, often stemming from ineffective exchanges between patients and healthcare professionals. This study explores a possible factor in such exchanges: the use of collaborative forms of talk in interaction with people with aphasia.…

Background: Impaired discourse production is commonly reported for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Discourse deficits can negatively impact community integration, return to employment and quality of life. COVID-19 restrictions have reduced in-person assessment services for people with communication impairments. Advances in…

Background: Achieving activity participation goals is a key factor in quality of life (QOL) for people with aphasia (PWA), but expressing participation goals can be difficult for many of them. Proxy reports by caregivers may not accurately reflect the interests and participation goals of PWA, and discrepancies in these goals between PWA and their…

Purpose: The three variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) differ in clinical presentation, underlying brain pathology, and clinical course, which stresses the need for early differentiation. However, brief cognitive tests that validly distinguish between all PPA variants are lacking. The Sydney Language Battery (SYDBAT) is a promising…