Discourse therapy in multilingual aphasia: a case study

Analysis of the strategies used in narrative and conversational discourse enables a sensitive evaluation of the deficit in mild aphasic patients and a possible alternative to the therapist dealing with multilingual patients for whom standard aphasia testing is not useful. This study describes the characterization of the communication deficit in a multilingual aphasic patient and the development and subsequent implementation of a therapy programme. Standard testing and discourse analysis took place in four languages, but therapy took place in English. Improvement in conversational skills was noted in all four languages and the patient reported increased functional ability, particularly in a work context. The implications of this approach to assessment and therapy are discussed.