The effects of two teaching techniques on recognition and use of function words by aphasic stroke patients

The study described in this article examined two different methods to reteach reading to stroke patients with Broca's aphasia. The first method was a multisensory technique that used visual, verbal, kinesthetic, and tactile input stimuli, while the alternate method used only a visual-verbal input procedure. A single-subject alternate-treatment design was used to compare the two approaches. It was found that word recognition improved in all patients regardless of the method used. The results of this study suggest that nurses who are aware of this problem may plan a simple approach that can help the affected individual overcome the reading deficit.