Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia

Author: Brett McCardel, MS, CCC-SLP

Looking for a general sentence/discourse-level treatment for alexia? Consider checking out 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 (ORLA)!โฃ
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ORLA is based on a stimulation approach, where repetitive practice through multiple modalities leads to over-learning of skills (and therefore better maintenance of therapy gains)โฃ
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There are 6 essential steps in the ORLA protocol:โฃ
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1. Clinician reads aloud to patient, pointing to each word as they goโฃ
2. Same as Step 1, with patient also pointingโฃ
3. Same as Step 2, with patient also readingโฃ
4. For each line or sentence, clinician states a word and patient finds itโฃ
5. For each line or sentence, clinician points to a word and patient reads itโฃ
6. Clinician and patient read aloud passage together againโฃ
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Similar to Multiple Oral Rereading (MOR), ORLA focuses on connected discourse rather than single words. Advantages of this include being able to focus on a variety of grammatical structures at the same time, along with repeated grapheme-to-phoneme conversion practice. โฃ
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A connected discourse treatment like ORLA can also be a fantastic way to incorporate Life Participation into your treatment. Examples might include:โฃ
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-Preparing for a toast that will be given at an upcoming wedding โฃ
-Focusing on a childrenโ€™s book that your client wants to read to their grandchildrenโฃ
-Practicing lines for the upcoming community theater performance that your client landed a role inโฃ
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Whatever goal your client has in mind, ORLA can be a helpful tool in your clinical toolbox!โฃ
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Looking for a step-by-step handout to help you remember all the steps to the ORLA protocol? Check out our ORLA handout at the Archways Rehab site (link in bio)โฃ
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Reference: Cherney L.R. (2010). Oral reading for language in aphasia: impact of aphasia severity on cross-modal outcomes in chronic no fluent aphasia. ๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜จ๐˜ฆ, ๐Ÿน๐Ÿท(๐Ÿท), 42-51โฃ
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#aphasia #aphasiatherapy #neurorehabilitation #medslp #reading #alexia

Looking for speech therapy and 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