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Understanding diversity: A multimodal approach to good and poor aphasia therapy outcomes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2006

MURRAY GROSSMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Extract

Aphasia is extraordinarily common. Over one million people in the US currently suffer from aphasia. The personal and societal costs associated with aphasia are enormous. We live in a highly verbal world, and compromised language communication limits the aphasic's participation in society. Activities associated with a reasonable quality of life are highly constrained, and significant depression and other psychological costs are frequent. From a financial perspective, it is the aphasic's limited communicative capacity—not an associated motor disorder—that constrains employment and the ability to contribute productively to society. Thus, there are many reasons to pursue aphasia therapy. Yet effective aphasia therapies are few. Despite the frequency of aphasia and its enormous costs, resources devoted to the treatment of aphasia have been disappointingly modest.

Type
NEUROBEHAVIORAL GRAND ROUNDS—INTRODUCTION
Copyright
© 2006 The International Neuropsychological Society

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