Effectiveness of Semantic-based Treatment in Persons with Aphasia

Semantic-based treatment is the salient approach used to remediate word retrieval deficits in persons with aphasia (PWAs). It is deemed to improve semantic attributes around the target word, thus aids in restoring word retrieval abilities. Hence, the present study has developed a semantic-based therapy named semantic cueing of verbs and its thematic role (SCVTr). Also, this therapy uses verbs as a core element accompanied by graded levels of semantic cues.

The current study Semantic Cueing of Verbs and its Thematic role (SCVTr) aimed to evaluate the effect of word retrieval abilities in PWAs.

Three participants (n = 3) with aphasia were recruited for the study. All the participants in the study received SCVTr therapy, and the responses were analyzed at three distinct time points. That is pre-therapy assessment (before initiation of therapy), mid-therapy assessment (10^th session), and post-therapy assessment (20^th session). Nouns, verbs, and discourse abilities of PWAs were evaluated using standardized test batteries.

The study results have discerned positive gains across trained conditions and discourse genres across all the participants. However, participants exhibited marginal gains with untrained stimuli. In addition, SCVTr therapy aids in modifying the error pattern exhibited by PWAs. Concurrently, researchers noted that all participants showed ameliorated performance on the standardized language test batteries during post-therapy evaluation.

SCVTr therapy has found to be effective in remediating word retrieval deficits in PWAs. This study extends the knowledge about strengthening the semantic network associated with the target word and its effect on generalization.