Using the Systems Approach for Aphasia introduces therapists to systems theory, exploring the way in which a holistic method that is already a key part of other health and social care settings can be employed in aphasia therapy. Detailed case studies from the author’s own extensive experience demonstrate how systemic tools can be incorporated into practice, offering practical suggestions for service delivery and caseload management in frequently overloaded community health services. Exploring the treatment process from first encounters, through the management of goals and attainments, to caring for patients after therapy has ended, the book demonstrates a method of delivering therapy in a way that will better serve the people who live with aphasia and their families, as well as the clinician themselves. Key features of this book include: • An accessible overview of systems theory and its use in aphasia therapy. • Consideration of how current popular ideas such as self-management, holistic rehabilitation and compassion focussed therapy can be incorporated to provide the best treatment. • Guidance on when and how to involve families based on case studies. • Case studies throughout to fully illustrate systemic approaches. An essential resource for both students and seasoned clinicians, the theory explored in this book will provide a fresh approach to therapy and new skills for working with people with aphasia and their families.

How do we manage to speak and understand language? How do children acquire these skills and how does the brain support them? This book provides a fascinating personal history of the men and women whose intelligence, brilliant insights, fads, fallacies, cooperations, and rivalries created the discipline we call psycholinguistics.

Exploring the history of disability and special education practices from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century indicates similar ideas and similar human approaches that have developed independently over time. People who survived the eugenics movement were placed in asylums and segregated special schools. In Europe and America, the general systems theory has been applied as a logico-mathematical discipline to include students of all special needs categories in their placements and education. The systems approach to special education practices has evolved from a historical model of diagnoses and cures to the biological and ecological models, integrating technology as the driving force in implementing curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

A Linguistic Investigation of Aphasic Chinese Speech is the first detailed linguistic analysis of a large body of aphasic Chinese natural speech data. This work describes how the major aphasia syndromes are manifest in Chinese, a language which differs significantly from languages upon which traditional aphasia theory is based. Following the Chinese data, a new explanation for the major aphasia syndromes is offered based on the cognitive science modularity hypothesis. The theory posits that Broca's aphasia is the result of computational deficits that occur within linguistic components, while Wernicke's aphasia is the result of deficits that occur in the transfer of information between components. It is demonstrated how the fluent and non-fluent characteristics of the major aphasia syndromes follow directly from the properties of cognitive modules. Detailed linguistic descriptions of Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia in Chinese are provided, including a summary of diagnostics of aphasia type. The complete corpora of four aphasic Chinese speakers, including interlinear and free translations, are presented in an Appendix.

Aphasia and Related Neurogenic Communication Disorders, Second Edition reviews the definition, terminology, classification, symptoms, and neurology of aphasia, including the theories of plasticity and recovery. Best practices of aphasia assessment and intervention are presented including neuropsychological models and formal and informal testing procedures to maximize correct clinical rehabilitative decisions. Theoretical bases for rehabilitation, guidelines for organization and delivery of evidence-based therapy, as well as augmentative and alternative communication therapy, and computer-based treatments are also presented.

The selected contributions in this volume bring together applications of pragmatics in speech and language pathology, as well as discussions of the applicability of different theoretical strands of the study of human linguistic interaction and its cognitive bases to the field of communication disorders. The authors address practical issues in the classification, assessment and treatment of pragmatic disorders both in developmental and acquired contexts. Further major concerns are the theoretical foundations of clinical pragmatics (such as linguistic pragmatics, functional approaches to language analysis, and cognitive science), and the development of clinical pragmatics.