The Effects of Multimodal Communication Treatment With Discourse and Group Activities via Telepractice on People With Severe Nonfluent Aphasia: A Case Study.
Hyejin Park, Elizabeth Burklow, Emily L Ward et al.
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Case in brief
Two people with severe nonfluent aphasia—one with Broca’s aphasia and one with global aphasia—received 10 weeks of telepractice multimodal communication treatment. Sessions combined individual and group activities, with participants practicing speech, writing, drawing, gesture, and use of a communication book during story generation. The participant with Broca’s aphasia showed a trend toward greater use of nonspoken modalities. The participant with global aphasia improved nonspoken communication skills, supporting more successful communication during the task. Across both cases, successful use of nonspoken modalities was associated with increased communication success.
What made this case unusual
The treatment extended multimodal communication practice to story generation and group activities delivered via telepractice, aiming to reflect everyday communication.
Diagnostic / clinical pearl
For severe nonfluent aphasia, assess and support nonspoken communication modalities alongside speech; in these cases, their successful use helped participants communicate more effectively during story generation.
Why it matters
The findings offer preliminary support for combining discourse and group activities with telepractice multimodal treatment, while highlighting the need to adapt approaches to individual aphasia profiles.