Lecturers and talks

Brooke Hallowell
Ohio University, Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Health Sciences and Professions, Athens, OH, USA

Frameworks for conceptualizing aphasia: Relevance to everyday clinical practice
Theories of what constitutes aphasia have evolved ever since the syndrome of aphasia was first identified. Over the past 50 years, diverse means of conceptualizing aphasia have proliferated. In this session we will review a range of important frameworks for conceptualizing aphasia. Participants will be challenged to consider what they see as strengths and weaknesses of particular frameworks, and to reflect on how the way they conceptualize aphasia relates to their own sense of clinical excellence.

Capturing competence: Strategies for learning about the true abilities of people with aphasia
Some of the greatest challenges for clinicians working with people who have aphasia involve the complexity of problem solving required to understand any individual’s neurological and psychosocial conditions. We often face obstacles on the road to drawing valid conclusions about the myriad influences on a given person’s ability to communicate, participate maximally in desired daily life activities, and have a strong sense of identity and well-being. A vital aspect of the ongoing assessment process is the differentiation of a person’s true underlying abilities from our observation of his or her overt performance. In this session, we will differentiate the constructs of competence  and performance , and explore the importance of attending to potentially confounding factors in assessing cognitive-communicative abilities in adults with acquired neurogenic disabilities. We will then discuss the importance of a process analysis approach to assessment, and consider examples of how such an approach may be applied in clinical practice. Strengths-based and empowering approaches to assessment will be emphasized.

Day 2, July 3rd

Nina Dronkers

Audrey Holland 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA; Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 

Social approaches to the treatment of aphasia  
This presentation will describe and discuss one of the major trends in treatments for aphasia in the English-speaking world, the incorporation of principles of the Life Participation Approaches into treatment of aphasia.  This will be described in the first section of the presentation.  Then, because it It  is relatively simple to adapt functional communication concerns and everyday language into more formal work on word retrieval and other traditional treatment approaches, some simple adaptations will be given.  Following this, I will describe  functional compensatory treatments, and the importance in training others to support aphasic communication in everyday life.  Finally, I will discuss the dynamic growth of group treatment and intensive aphasia centers.  Throughout the talk, the use of technology, tele therapy  will be featured. 

The Famous People Protocol (FPP): Focusing assessment on knowledge, not language
This new assessment protocol differs from both impairment-based approaches (e.g., Luria's approach) and those that stress functional (consequence-based) communication (e.g., CADL-3). Its goal is to assess HOW individuals with aphasia might communicate their knowledge,despite severe language impairments. The FPP incorporates, provides opportunities for, and encourages the use of all modes of communication, from drawing, to gesturing, to writing, to talking. In this way, it provides a general  clinical roadmap  to successful communication, using the skills that are identified by the test. Although the FPP is designed for current contemporary American culture, it is easily adapted for other cultures, by substituting appropriate photographs of historical figures and celebrities for the person with aphasia to identify.