Alexia Treatment: Sentence-Level Treatments

Author: Brett McCardel, MS, CCC-SLP

When treating alexia at the sentence-level, syntax and morphology are areas that might be contributing to reading difficulties. ๐Ÿ“š โฃ
โฃ
Treatments targeting these areas may then include:โฃ
โฃ
๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜† (Schwartz, 1994): this approach focuses on retraining thematic roles within sentences (e.g., WHO is doing WHAT). A heavy emphasis is placed on identifying the agent, theme, and verb of a sentenceโฃ
โฃ
๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐˜€ (Thompson, 2005): in this treatment, a variety of complex sentence types are trained that allow for generalization to simpler, linguistically-related sentences. This treatment employs principles of the Complexity Account of Treatment Efficacy, which allows for such nice generalization effects!โฃ
โฃ
๐— ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ (Faroqi-Shaw, 2008): this approach targets verb inflection through sentence-picture matching and sentence production tasks. Suffixes such as present progressive -ing or regular past tense -ed can really make text difficult to understand if morphological skills are compromised!โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
Other treatments not focused solely around morphosyntax include:โฃ
โฃ
๐— ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด (Kim and Russo, 2010): this treatment uses top-down processing to increase reading rate and accuracy for a text (@tactustherapy has a fantastic guide on how to do this!)โฃ
โฃ
๐—ข๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฎ (Cherney, 2005): a reading protocol that emphasizes repetitive reading of a sentence and identification of individual words. A nice technique to use in conjunction with single-word treatment approaches!โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
While these protocols are all options to consider for alexia treatment, make sure to pick reading stimuli that your client enjoys reading as well!โฃ
โฃ
(In fact, the picture for this post is TUF material I used recently for a session with a HUGE Harry Potter fan)โฃ
โฃ
Be on the lookout for free step-by-step guides on how to complete the TUF and ORLA protocols from Archways, and check out our resource page for a treatment guide at the single word-level (link in bio)!โฃ
โฃ
#aphasia #aphasiatherapy #neurorehabilitation #medslp #alexia

Looking for aphasia therapy in the Seattle, WA area? Click here to learn more about the services we provide, or contact us at (206) 395-4259 / Brett@archwaysrehab.com