390 Caring to Communicate Using spontaneous speech samples to measure change in aphasia SUSAN EDWARDS University of Reading, UK ABSTRACT Assessment of aphasia is an essential component of aphasia therapy. Results from assessment procedures form the baseline by which language change may be measured and prouide the rationale for therapy. Assessment results also reueal the nature of aphasia exhibited by the indiuidual client. It is therefore of paramount importance that assessment procedures are robust, reliable and reueal- ing. Assessments should give some way of quantifying the speech produced as well as describing task performance. Published aphasia assessments frequently used in clinical practice focus on language tasks rather than spontaneous language and therefore have little to offer by way of quantifying connected speech. In this paper the case is made for including the analysis of spontaneous speech as part of aphasia assessment. A procedure which can capture grammatical features of connected speech at phrasal, clausal and supra-sentential leuel and therefore be applied to a range of aphasic and normal speech will be described. Illustrative results from normal and aphasic speakers will be giuen and the clinical and theo- retical implications of these results will be discussed.

Using spontaneous speech samples to measure change in aphasia

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390 Caring to Communicate

Using spontaneous speech samples to measure change in aphasia

SUSAN EDWARDS University of Reading, UK

ABSTRACT Assessment of aphasia is an essential component of aphasia therapy. Results from assessment procedures form the baseline by which language change may be measured and prouide the rationale for therapy. Assessment results also reueal the nature of aphasia exhibited by the indiuidual client. It is therefore of paramount importance that assessment procedures are robust, reliable and reueal- ing. Assessments should give some way of quantifying the speech produced as well as describing task performance. Published aphasia assessments frequently used in clinical practice focus on language tasks rather than spontaneous language and therefore have little to offer by way of quantifying connected speech. In this paper the case is made for including the analysis of spontaneous speech as part of aphasia assessment. A procedure which can capture grammatical features of connected speech at phrasal, clausal and supra-sentential leuel and therefore be applied to a range of aphasic and normal speech will be described. Illustrative results from normal and aphasic speakers will be giuen and the clinical and theo- retical implications of these results will be discussed.