Communication in children and adolescents after acquired brain injury: An exploratory study.

Objective: The usability of the Communicative Effectiveness Index (CETI) in adolescents with acquired brain injury was investigated and compared with linguistic, cognitive and brain injury data.

Design: A prospective, longitudinal, between-group design.

Subjects: Thirty participants were divided into 2 subgroups: CETI+ and CETI- groups.

Features of aphasic gesturing--an exploratory study of features in gestures produced by persons with and without aphasia.

The purpose of this study was to see how features of gestures produced by persons with aphasia (PWA) are affected and to relate the findings to possible underlying factors. Spontaneous gestures were studied in two contexts: (i) associated with the production of nouns and verbs and (ii) in relation to word finding or production difficulties. The method involved assembling two datasets of co-speech gestures, produced by PWA and by persons without aphasia and to code the gestures for a number of features of expression and content.

Patterns of communicative interaction between a child with severe speech and physical impairments and her caregiver during a mealtime activity.

Background: Interaction between caregivers and children with severe impairments is closely related to the demands of daily activities. This study examines the relationship between interaction and the routine mealtime activity at home.

Method: Patterns of interaction between a child (aged 6 years and 6 months) with severe speech and physical impairments and her caregiver (focus dyad) and a child without impairments (aged 6 years and 6 months) and her caregiver (comparison dyad) were analysed using video recordings and activity-based communication analysis.

Aphasia and text writing.

Background: Good writing skills are needed in almost every aspect of life today, and there is a growing interest in research into acquired writing difficulties. Most of the findings reported so far, however, are based on words produced in isolation. The present study deals with the production of entire texts.

Embodiment in communication--aphasia, apraxia and the possible role of mirroring and imitation.

The role of embodiment in communication is attracting an increased interest. This interest is to some extent caused by hypotheses and findings concerning mirror neurons in macaques, that is, neurons that are activated by production as well as perception of, for example, a certain movement of action. Mirror neurons seem to provide a fairly simple mechanism for acting, perceiving, imitating and pantomime, which could be crucial to the development of human communication and language.

Aphasia and the process of revision in writing a text.

Most of the previous research on aphasia and writing ability concentrates on the production of words in isolation. The purpose of the current study was to examine the process of producing written texts by clients with aphasia. By using keystroke logging, it was possible to analyse the participants' ongoing work during text writing.

Inference in right hemisphere damaged individuals' comprehension: the role of sustained attention.

The ability to make inferences for the purposes of comprehension is considered an important factor in pragmatic ability. In this experimental group study with stroke patients, the ability to make inferences and its associations with sustained attention and verbal working memory were explored. A group of 14 left-hemisphere-damaged individuals had more difficulty with tasks requiring the ability to revise inferences than a matched control group.

Children with autistic spectrum disorders and speech-generating devices: communication in different activities at home.

The communication of four children with autistic spectrum disorder was investigated when they were supplied with a speech-generating device (SGD) in three different activities in their home environment: mealtime, story reading and "sharing experiences of the preschool day". An activity based communication analysis, in which collective and individual background factors for the activities were outlined, was used as a basis for the discussion of linguistic coding data derived from video-recordings made before and during SGD intervention. The coded communicative behaviours were engagement in activity, role in turn-taking, communicative form, function and effectiveness.

Argumentation with restricted linguistic ability: performing a role play with aphasia or in a second language.

The main objective of this study is to illustrate how adaptation to linguistic limitations takes place in a specific activity and is affected by factors pertaining to the social activity or the individuals. A man with aphasia is compared to an adult immigrant L2 learner. An argumentative role play was video-recorded, transcribed and analysed.