Language Problems after Stroke

About the Treatment Program

The Auburn University Speech and Hearing Clinic offers both individual and group treatment for stroke survivors with communication disorders. With the assistance of the American Heart Association we also offer monthly stroke support group meetings. Stroke recovery is a lengthy process that requires the assistance of the entire network of patient, family and friends. We do our best to meet the individual needs of each client in our scheduling. The duration of individual sessions typically ranges from 30 to 90 minutes. The frequency of sessions typically ranges from 1 to 5 times per week. There are a number of factors that will help us determine the client’s schedule: how easily the client’s fatigues, the type and severity of their deficit, their goals for therapy and their transportation requirements.

The focus of our treatment programs include three primary areas. The first area focuses on the recovery of lost communicative function. This means we are working directly with the client to assist him/her in regaining as much function as possible. The natural time period for the body’s best recovery of function is typically thought to be within the first 3 to 6 months post stroke. During this time it is critically important that the person’s communicative attempts remain as positive and successful as possible. We may assist them in learning ways to modify their communication and their environment to promote the successful transmission their messages. In addition we can also help them prevent the development of poor or nonproductive communication habits.

The next treatment area focuses on finding ways to compensate for residual communication problems that are expected to persist. This means learning strategies that will maintain lines of successful communication despite deficits. For example, a patient may select a type of augmentative device to assist them in sending message when their best attempts to speak clearly are not understandable to person outside of the immediate family members. This augmentative device may be as simple as a picture board with written messages, or as complex a computer that will produce the spoken message for him/her. The time period for focusing on learning compensatory strategies is very broad and may include someone who is within 6 months post onset to persons who are 6 or more years post onset from their stroke. If the person is interested in finding ways in which to improve and if we believe our intervention will promote that improvement, we will consider enrolling them in at least a trial period of treatment.

The additional focus of treatment usually runs parallel with the other two, it involves counseling the patient and their family members with regard to accepting the communicative differences and difficulties they are now experiencing and how this will affect their family, social and occupational life.

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Involvement of Family and Friends

We often require a family member to accompany the client to each treatment session. This is especially true if the client requires assistance in activities of daily living and/or if the client’s medical condition may require prompt attention.

We prefer to include the family in the treatment planning process and in the identification of communicative needs within the client’s home environment. We encourage the family members and close friends to observe the sessions and at times to participate in treatment task. This allows us to observe their communicative exchanges with the client and suggest ways that might facilitate the process. We also often design a home program of activities to be completed outside the clinical setting and the family is usually a main part of that program. Progress update conferences as counseling sessions are times when we may specifically request that the family attend the appointment.

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Progress

The client’s progress is typically monitored each week and formal re-evaluation of skills are done at least each semester. This permits us to reassess and redesign the treatment plans to meet the changing needs of the client. We prefer to include the family in the treatment planning process and in the identification of communicative needs within the client’s home environment. We encourage the family members and close friends to observe the sessions and at times to participate in treatment task. This allows us to observe their communicative exchanges with the client and suggest ways that might facilitate the process. We also often design a home program of activities to be completed outside the clinical setting and the family is usually a main part of that program. Progress update conferences as counseling sessions are times when we may specifically request that the family attend the appointment.

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