Noun Production in Persons with Chronic Aphasia Using a Speech Generating Device with Increased Dosing

Research Objectives: This investigation aimed to determine the effect that repeated trials using a speech-generating device (SGD) have on the production of nouns in persons with chronic expressive aphasia.

Design: The study design used was an ABAB single-subject research design with intervention two times per week for four weeks.

Setting: "home"

Participants: A 76-year-old male, 8 years post-stroke; a 72-year-old male, 2 years post-stroke; and a 61-year-old male, 8 years post-injury

Interventions: Baseline probes were administered via telepractice using 20 stimuli photos. Intervention – B¹- icons appeared one per page, for five trials per stimulus word. The participant repeated the word. Withdrawal - A² participants repeated identical probes completed in A¹, confrontationally naming photographs without the device. Intervention – B² the same 20 stimuli pictures were presented using the TouchTalk device.

Main Outcome Measures: All three participants showed improved naming accuracy during the intervention phases. The outcome was measured by the performance in the intervention phases when compared to the performance when the intervention was removed.

Results: Participant one exhibited an average increase in performance of 31.7% from Baseline Phase A1 to Intervention Phase B1 and a 20% increase from Withdrawal Phase A2 to Intervention Phase B2. Participant two exhibited an average increase in performance of 28.2% in Baseline Phase A1 to Intervention Phase B1 and a 24.5% increase from Withdrawal Phase A2 to Intervention Phase B2. Participant three had a 33.7% increase from Baseline Phase A1 to Intervention Phase B1 and a 33% increase from Withdrawal Phase A2 to Intervention Phase B2.

Conclusions: The results of this study support other findings that visual images help to stimulate language and word meanings (Collier and Dietz, 2014; DeLong et al., 2015; Griffith et al., 2014; Harnish et al., 2014; McKelvey et al., 2010; Off et al., 2015).

Author(s) Disclosures: Dr. Shawnise Carter does have a financial relationship with Lingraphica and as a full-time employee thereby receives compensation.
Dr. Sandra Combs does not have a financial relationship with Lingraphica.