Identifier

etd-04032008-161153

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if given a period of intensive aphasia therapy a patient diagnosed with aphasia and an accompanying apraxia would maintain, gain, or lose skills during non-intensive therapy. A literature review revealed that intensive therapy has been shown to increase a patient's skill level in various areas. However, very little research was found that focused on how these patients' perform when reintroduced to typical aphasia therapy. This study proposed three specific questions: if the participant would retain her current level of word retrieval functioning evident after intensive therapy, if the participant would retain her current level of apraxic error production following intensive therapy, and if given intensive therapy the patient would experience maintenance, loss, or gains in the area of quality of life. One sixty-six year old female participated in this study by undergoing six weeks of intensive therapy, six weeks of no therapy, and six weeks of non-intensive aphasia therapy. The single subject subject study utilized an ABAABA design. Results indicated that maintenance, gains, and losses occurred across the areas assessed. In the area of word retrieval maintenance occured. In the area of apraxic errors maintenance, gains, and losses occurred, and in the area of quality of life a loss occurred for the patient.

Date

2008

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Janna Oetting

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.4101

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