Speech and Language Treatments of Global Aphasia

Background and Objectives: Global aphasia is a severe acquired communication disorder in all interactive contexts. Global aphasia is language disorder that involves the breakdown of all aspects of oral and written language, typically associated with an extensive left hemiphere lesion that involves cortical and subcortical areas as well as white matter tracts. The characteristics oh global aphasia include severe auditory comprehension and oral expression deficits with some spared conceptual knowledge and spared comprehension of emotional prosody. People with aphasia, like other people in society, have social roles and need meaningful communication. The aim of this study was evaluating the common therapeutic methods of global aphasia and introducing the most effective and cost-effective therapies. Materials and Methods: We conducted a search in PMC, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Medline, SID, Google Scholar and Ovid databases. The present information is available reviewing the articles from ۱۹۹۶ to ۲۰۲۰ through the search of the resources. Results: Strokes can adversely affect vision, balance, cognition, memory and speech. Many stroke patients have reduced speaking abilities, called aphasia. Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language. The nine therapeutic modalities for improving the linguistic and verbal skills of a person with global aphasia were evaluated that including: Visual Action Therapy, MIT, Bill Symbols, Drawing, Computerized Language Intervention, Remnant and Pictographic Books, Arm and Hand Gestures, SIPARI and A Specific Treatment. Some of these methods are verbal, some non-verbal and alternative communication systems. According to various studies, traditional treatment methods are not effectual for these individuals. Therefore, making use of interventions related to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is emphasized. Reviews in this article show that some of these ۹ methods showed good results and improved some aspects of speech and communication although some of the methods studied did not show a significant effect on individuals. Conclusion: The best treatment is one that is cost-effective and accessible at any time and place that helps individuals with global aphasia to use their limited abilities and communication. Among the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Remnant books are more accessible, economical and enjoyable than other methods for people with global aphasia with a variety of disabilities. MIT and SIPARI among the verbal methods are also effective for individuals who have significant auditory perception to reach a sufficient speech. Despite being time-consuming, they are easy to learn and can be more satisfying because of the patient's ability to get a better speech.  

Keywords:

language disorders , global aphasia , stroke , speech & , language pathology