Author: Brett McCardel, MS, CCC-SLP
Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) is a well-known treatment technique in the SLP world. SFA aims to improve word-finding via spreading activation within the semantic system, and has been shown to result in significant improvements in confrontation naming (Quique, Evans, and Dickey, 2019).
While SFA is a powerful tool by itself, researchers have continued to modify and enhance the protocol in order to optimize outcomes. Here are a some ways you can enhance SFA treatment:
𝗦𝗙𝗔 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀: Nouns aren’t the only grammatical class that benefits from SFA! A growing body of literature suggests that a spreading activation approach can also aid in verb-retrieval as well (Wumbaugh, Mauszycki, and Wright, 2014).
𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆: Dell’s Interactive Activation Model of Word Production suggests that word-finding is influenced by both semantic features AND phonological features. Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) is a technique designed to address these phonological features (Leonard, Rochon, and Laird, 2008).
𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗙𝗔: The great thing about SFA is that not only is it an effective impairment-based technique, but it also can be utilized as a compensatory strategy! Once your patient is comfortable with the standard SFA protocol, consider training the semantic features as a self-cueing strategy where the person systematically thinks through the features during word-finding disruptions (Coppens and Mylott, 2006).
𝗦𝗙𝗔 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: An excellent way to incorporate SFA beyond the single word-level and into patient-centered goals is through story retell and procedural discourse (Rider, Wright, Marshall, and Page, 2008). Work with your client to determine what topics that they want to talk about with people in their lives (such as a recent family wedding that they attended, or new movie that they enjoyed watching in theaters). Once you’ve decided the topic, brainstorm a list of 10 key words that you will train for each of the topics to become anchor words during the conversation.
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