Carey Smith

Defense Date

7-25-2005

Graduation Date

2005

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

School

Rangos School of Health Sciences

Committee Chair

Kathryn L. Garrett

Committee Member

Davida Fromm

Committee Member

Yang Chen

Keywords

context, global aphasia, reading, severe aphasia, written choice communication

Abstract

A repeated measures comparative design compared the reading comprehension accuracy scores of three participants across two conditions: Condition A -- Decontextualized Stimulus Reading Task (DSRT), resembling traditional reading therapy, and Condition B -- Contextual Choice Reading Conversation (CCRC) with a communication partner. In the DSRT condition, participants read a sentence-length question prior to selecting one of 3-to-5 printed responses with no supports. In CCRC, partners presented graphic sentence stimuli representing conversational questions and response choices with the following supports: simultaneous auditory input, supplemental drawings or gestures, natural repetitions, consistent topic, and conversational order. Experimental conditions were administered in counterbalanced order across 5 sessions. Responses were scored for accuracy based on factual world knowledge (DSRT) or verification by spouses or family members, for a maximum of 10 points for each session per condition. Raw scores, mean scores, and standard deviations from each condition were compared with descriptive and nonparametric statistics. Results showed significant improvement in reading comprehension accuracy when the CCRC method was applied. Clinically, this suggests that persons with severe aphasia can read well enough to use partner supported conversations that utilize reading comprehension.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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