Thursday, July 02, 2015

Assigning homework for aphasia recovery patients

As you might have seen before, I used some technology myself in recovering from aphasia - a borrowed child's toy called GeoSafari. It was a teaching toy, and I was able to use it as a language-building tool.

Fast-forward 17 years, and we're more sophisticated now - snazzier video games, education toys, tablets - offering even more possibilities for aphasia recovery.

Plus, it gives a chance to study this on your own timetable. Check out the recent story how self-delivered speech therapy is feasible for aphasia patients:
A speech therapy program self delivered daily by use of an application for tablet computer significantly improved language scores in chronic stroke patients with aphasia, in a new pilot study.
Brielle Stark, a PhD student, at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (UK), concluded that such self-delivered app-based programs may be an effective and affordable way of ensuring that chronic stroke patients gain access to the regular high-dose speech therapy they need.
"Speech therapy is hugely labor intensive," she said. "This program would not replace speech therapists but would be complementary to them. The speech therapist could set exercises to do on a tablet as homework between sessions."
Call it a toy or call it a tool - if it helps, it helps!

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