Impact of remnant versus pictographic communication books on communicative interactions for an individual with aphasia

Abstract

Aphasia is a loss of receptive and/or expressive language acquired most often from stroke, but can also be acquired by head trauma, tumors, degenerative diseases or removal of brain tissue. Individuals with severe aphasia often do not return to their baseline communication abilities even after therapy because of the extensive damage that has been caused. An individual that does not return to baseline would be a good candidate for an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system in order to help the individual experience successful communicative interactions (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005). An AAC system is commonly used to help an individual replace or supplement communication abilities that are impaired due to developmental or acquired deficits. The purpose of this current study examines the effect that two different low-tech AAC systems have on the communication skills of an individual with aphasia. Data were analyzed using visual inspection. The results indicated that using a communication book, specifically a remnant or pictographic book, resulted in an increase in the frequency of occurrences in turn taking. The intervention did not have an effect on topic initiations, no responses, and repairs of communication breakdowns.