Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Therapy for naming difficulties in aphasia: Application of a cognitive neuropsychological model

1991; Elsevier BV; Volume: 6; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0911-6044(91)90004-3

1873-8052

Julie Nettleton, Ruth Lesser,

Reading and Literacy Development

In a repeated case study design, six aphasic patients with naming difficulties were selected according to criteria generated from the application of a cognitive neuropsychological model of naming. Two subjects were thought to have problems within the semantic system, and were given semantic (model-appropriate) therapy. Two subjects were thought to have problems relating to the phonological lexicon; they were given phonological (model-appropriate) therapy. Two subjects were thought to have problems at the level of phoneme assembly; they were given semantic (model-inappropriate) therapy. This was in order to test whether a treatment programme designed for one type of naming disorder could be effective if used indiscriminately (as might happen in current clinical practice). Three of the subjects receiving model-appropriate therapy showed improved naming after eight weeks of therapy; the two subjects receiving model-inappropriate therapy did not improve. The results suggest that applying a processing model in selecting patients for therapy for naming difficulties is a promising development which merits further testing.