Published:Thursday, October 12, 2000
Updated:Thursday, March 3, 2011 16:03
An ETSU faculty member is now offering a new treatment for stroke victims who have difficulties speaking or understanding words.
Dr. Lee Ennis, assistant professor, and graduate students of the College of Public and Allied Health primarily work with patients who show word retrieval failure. These patients may know what an object is but cannot give its proper name.
The staff uses cues to help the patients remember the word for the object that is being shown. Ennis explained the process using the following examples: Some cues involve the instructor sounding the first letter of the proper word. The instructor would sound the letter "c" to cue the patient to say the word "coke."
Rhyming is also used as a cue to help patients retrieve the proper word. The instructor may say, "This sounds like poke."
Other cues are categorical and relational. To use a categorical cue, the instructor may say, "This is a type of beverage." A relational cue may be, "Pepsi is a similar drink."
Patients are also given work to continue the therapy at home. If the person has difficulty understanding what people say, he/she may be assigned listening projects. Those who have difficulty reading may have a reading asignment. The assighment will be oriented toward the subject that the patient is having the most difficulty in during the class. .
Family members are encouraged to attend the therapy sessions and help the patients with their home projects.
"It is important that treatment for these problems begin as soon as possible," Ennis said. "The program is beneficial for recent stroke victims as well as those who have had problems for years, Ennis said"
See the article here:
Stroke victims offered treatments that may improve their speech