Combining treatment for written and spoken naming

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Left-hemisphere damage frequently causes co-occurring deficits in spoken and written language abilities.
• Previous research indicates that combining reading with spoken naming can enhance both language modalities.
• Systematic investigation into treatments for spelling combined with spoken naming is limited.

Observation:

• This study investigated the efficacy of pairing Copy and Recall Treatment (CART), a lexical spelling intervention, with verbal repetition.
• The CART + Repetition approach was contrasted with a Repetition Only condition lacking orthographic training.
• Two participants with moderate aphasia and severe spelling impairments were assessed using a multiple baseline design.

Findings:

• Both participants demonstrated improvements in spelling targeted words and in spoken naming of those words.
• One participant exhibited significant gains in spoken naming within the CART + Repetition condition.
• The other participant showed more improvement in written than spoken naming, regardless of the treatment condition.

Implications:

• The CART + Repetition treatment may offer enhanced benefits for individuals with aphasia who possess some residual phonological capacity.
• This therapeutic approach appears to strengthen the connections between orthography (spelling) and phonology (speech).
• Findings suggest a tailored approach to aphasia treatment based on individual phonological abilities is beneficial.