Your speech therapist might find this useful in creating your stroke protocol.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=134867&CultureCode=en
In the era of globalization, bilingualism is becoming more and more
frequent, and it is considered a plus. However, can this skill turn into
a disadvantage, when someone acquires aphasia? More precisely, if a
bilingual person suffers brain damage (i.e. stroke, head trauma,
dementia) and this results in a language impairment called aphasia, then
the two languages can be disrupted, thus increasing the challenge of
language rehabilitation. According to Dr. Ana Inés Ansaldo, researcher
at the Research Centre of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de
Montréal (IUGM), and a professor at the School of Speech Therapy and
Audiology at Université de Montréal, research evidence suggests that
bilingualism can be a lever—and not an obstacle—to aphasia recovery.
A recent critical literature review conducted by Ana Inés Ansaldo and
Ladan Ghazi Saidi -Ph.D student- points to three interventional avenues
to promote cross-linguistic effects of language therapy (the natural
transfer effects that relearning one language has on the other
language).
It is important for speech-language pathologists to clearly identify a
patient's mastery of either language before and after aphasia onset, in
order to decide which language to stimulate to achieve better results.
Overall, the studies reviewed show that training the less proficient
language (before or after aphasia onset)—and not the dominant
language—results in bigger transfer effects on the untreated language.
Moreover, similarities between the two languages, at the levels of
syntax, phonology, vocabulary, and meaning, will also facilitate
language transfer. Specifically, working on “cognates,” or similar words
in both languages, facilitates cross-linguistic transfer of therapy
effects. For example, stimulating the word “table” in French
will also help the retrieval of the word “table” in English, as these
words have the same meaning and similar sounds in French and English.
However, training “non-cognates” (words that sound alike, but do not
share the same meanings) can be confusing for the bilingual person with
aphasia.
In general, semantic therapy approaches, based on stimulating word
meanings, facilitate transfer of therapy effects from the treated
language to the untreated one. In other words, drilling based on the
word's semantic properties can help recovering both the target word and
its cross-linguistic equivalent. For example, when the speech-language
pathologist cues the patient to associate the word “dog” to the ideas of
“pet,” “four legs” and “bark,”, the French word “chien” is as well activated, and will be more easily retrieved than by simply repeating the word “dog”.
“In the past, therapists would ask patients to repress or stifle one
of their two languages, and focus on the target language. Today, we
have a better understanding of how to use both languages, as one can
support the other. This is a more complex approach, but it gives better
results and respects the inherent abilities of bilingual people.
Considering that bilinguals may soon represent the majority of our
clients, this is definitely a therapeutic avenue we need to pursue,”
explained Ana Inés Ansaldo, who herself is quadrilingual.
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