Date of Award
5-2006
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Communication Sciences and Disorders: M.S.
Department
Communication Sciences and Disorders
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
G.N. Rangamani
Second Advisor
Monica Devers
Third Advisor
Robert Murphy
Keywords and Subject Headings
Aphasia, Script Training, Stroke, Therapy
Abstract
PROBLEM:
As the population in the United States continues to age and a greater number of individuals suffer from strokes or other types of brain damage it is important to develop new treatment methods that can be functional and easily implemented. Addressing functional aspects of communication and the psychosocial needs of persons with aphasia (PWA) is an important aspect in treatment planning. Script training works on conversational skills and therefore facilitates the social interaction skills necessary to accomplish everyday activities. Few studies have examined script training as a method of therapy for people with chronic aphasia. Youmans, Holland, and Munoz, 2003 found that individuals could master scripts and produce them with novel conversation partners thereby improving their communication skills in certain social contexts. Although this study demonstrated favorable results more research examining different types of generalization practice and using individuals with different types of aphasia profiles can help better understand the functionality of this therapy method.
PROCEDURE:
Three individuals ranging in age from 46 to 74 with Broca's aphasia and different severity levels of apraxia served as participants. Each participant learned two scripts, a pre-constructed script and a co-constructed script. A cueing hierarchy was used when struggle occurred. Tape recordings of the scripts were sent home for outside practice. Scenario questions were created to elicit the scripts in order to analyze generalization effects. A schematic cue was paired with one of the scripts for each participant to examine its influence on generalization. Three formal tests were administered before and after treatment to help examine progress in functional communication skills.
FINDINGS:
Progress in script production over time was observed for all participants. Subject #1 demonstrated quicker and greater progress for all scripts while Subjects #2 and #3 demonstrated slower and more inconsistent production ability. Generalization was seen for Subject #1 however Subjects #2 and #3 showed only some generalization effects, never quite reaching complete transfer to novel conversation partners. For each participant the script paired with a schematic cue demonstrated greater generalization effects over the script without the additional context cue. Improvements in areas examining functional communication were observed on two of the formal measures taken after the conclusion of treatment.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings indicate that script training can lead to positive outcomes and improvements in communication in social contexts when applied to individuals with appropriate aphasia profiles. This method of treatment is clinically significant as it demonstrates results within a relatively short duration of time and can be generalized outside of the therapy setting. The use of a schematic cue can also facilitate greater generalization of the scripts. These results not only add to previous literature on aphasia treatment but also raise further questions regarding specific aspects of the treatment strategy. Future research may focus on other types of aphasia profiles in order to narrow down the exact profile that would be best suited to script training, as well as examine different cueing strategies and the impact of rote language and personal relevance on the learning of scripts.
Recommended Citation
Daun, Reesa L., "The Functionality and Generalization Effects of Script Training in People with Chronic Aphasia" (2006). Culminating Projects in Communication Sciences and Disorders. 13.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/csd_etds/13
