| Abstract: |
Outcomes from a prior study with a client with apraxia (Lasker, Stierwalt, Hageman, and LaPointe, 2008) demonstrated the effectiveness of a treatment protocol chat combined the Motor Learning Guided approach (Hageman, Simon, Backer, and Burda, 2002) and daily home practice with a speech generating device (SGD). In this study a similar treatment protocol was implemented with a 28-year-old who presented with severe apraxia of speech and aphasia. The client participated in four treatment sessions a week -- two via Skype and two face-to-face sessions. The combined approach of MLG and SGD practice resulted in acceptable productions on trained items. In addition, treatment conducted via Skype and face-to-face sessions resulted in similar outcomes in terms of intelligibility, immediacy, and naturalness ratings. Improvements were noted in the client's overall verbal output in testing and conversations. Results demonstrated both the effectiveness of the MLG/SGD treatment approach and the feasibility of conducting this protocol using webcam interactive technology. |
