Western Aphasia Case Study Essay

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Question 1 Language and cognitive assessments administered to the client in the case, a Cantonese-speaking lady with Wernicke’s aphasia, reveal a general post-stroke deficit in speech and language. With careful analysis of the results, which indicates the possibility of impairment in short-term memory (STM), phonological input lexicon (PIL) and phonological output lexicon (POL), I would recommend digit span forward, writing-to-dictation and reading aloud as further tests to understand her impairment. Assessments performed reveal possible impairment in STM of the client, which is important for temporary storage of incoming information for further processing. In the subtests of Cantonese version of Western Aphasic Battery (CAB) performed, …show more content…

Major skills assessed include PIL and orthographic output lexicon (OOL). Therefore, normal OOL is important for accurate result interpretation. The client can be asked to write simple information about herself (e.g. name) before the commencement of the test to check for normal OOL. If poor OOL is suspected, phonological lexical decision can be administered instead. If the client’s performance of the test is within the normal range, it suggests that she has normal PIL and OOL. Question 2 It is recommended to treat the client’s anomia as shown in initial assessment with semantic feature analysis (SFA) and semantic priming (SP). The simultaneous use of SFA and SA is a facilitative technique which strengthens connections within the semantic system and between semantic and phonological output (Law, Wong, Sung, & Hon, 2006) and thus improve naming of the client. The anomic treatment below is designed for the client with reference to her level of performance as initial assessment indicated and her emotional states towards her speech and language

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