| Abstract: |
This case study describes an errorless learning approach to naming treatment for an adult with temporal-variant frontotemporal dementia. The patient's severe dysnomia was characterized by between- (verbs better than nouns) and within-class (biological motion better than tool use verbs; living better than nonliving nouns) grammatical dissociations. A treatment method was designed to improve naming within specific semantic categories using an interactional discourse approach that required use of analytical and associative skills, with confrontation naming expected as a byproduct of the direct treatment. The predictions were that significant improvements would occur during the active course of treatment, with steeper learning curves achieved for more relatively preserved semantic categories, but with no generalization to novel stimuli and no maintenance of gain at 3-months follow-up. Results were largely as predicted, with significant improvements in naming during the active phases of treatment, with no generalization of naming ability to novel stimuli, and no maintenance of gain at follow-up. Findings coincide with other studies in the literature. Findings also suggest the value of errorless learning approaches to naming and the facilitation of neurobehavioral effect during active phases of treatment. |
