Aphasia Rehabilitation: The Impairment and Its Consequences

As a consequence of the disability movement, the thinking generated by the World Health Organization’s classification of disability and functioning, and an upturn in concern for the long-term consequences of aphasia, it has become apparent that two distinctive pathways for the treatment of aphasia have emerged over the past decade. The first (and most traditional) involves assessment and management directed toward lessening the effects of the impairment of aphasia, while the second pathway focuses less on specific language than on the psychosocial consequences of aphasia. This unique text specifically contrasts impairment- and consequences-focused treatment with the aim of providing clinicians with a level playing field that permits them to evaluate for themselves the relative contributions that each approach provides, to evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses, and finally to seek common ground.

An opening chapter sets the scene, while the heart of the book, based on real cases, concerns five meticulously described, yet hypothetical individuals with aphasia. In each of the cases, detailed descriptions and assessment results are provided and clinical management plans, representing each approach, are presented by internationally recognized experts in aphasia rehabilitation