Need two submit two two-paged Case Study's
Christina Howie
CSD 212
8 March 2018
Case Study 2
1. Professional Reference: I chose to work with a study that examined the treatment of Wernicke’s Aphasia with jargon. The study found that there are limited treatment options for those who use jargon following a left-hemisphere stroke but patients often benefit from strengthening their non-verbal skills. This study is relevant because it examines how patients with aphasia use jargon and the best therapy options for them.
2. Famous Person Profile: One notable celebrity that suffered from aphasia was Dick Clark. Following his stroke in 2004, Dick Clark developed aphasia, a common communication disorder that often follows a stroke that affects the production and comprehension of speech. Despite his aphasia, Dick Clark continued to participate in New Year’s Rockin Eve, making him a symbol of hope for the millions of people that suffer from disorders such as aphasia. His continued appearance brought attention and awareness to aphasia. Despite his muffled words and lack of fluidity, his words were still generally understandable to the public and sent a strong message.
3. Differential Diagnosis: The symptoms of this 47-year-old man align with the symptoms of Wernicke’s Aphasia. While he has fluid speech, he meaning behind his speech is ultimately nonsense. “Wernicke’s Aphasia is characterized by fluent speech that is difficult to understand because it contains numerous paraphasias (i.e. incorrect words or nonwords) and is relatively devoid of content” (pg. 237). Individuals with Wernicke’s aphasia also have significant impairment of auditory comprehension (pg. 237) which would explain why he has a difficult time following directions.
4. Treatment Recommendation/Prognostic Statement: Treatment for aphasia is patient specific due to the fact that every patient has different needs and responds differently. For this particular patient, I believe that the best course of action would be a combination of group therapy and individual therapy. During group therapy, aphasia patients have the opportunity to come together and maximize their communication skills and learn how to compensate for communication challenges with assistance from a clinician (pg. 243). During individual therapy, those were Wernicke’s aphasia are guided to strengthen their non-communication based skills such as actions, movements, props, gestures and facials expressions to help them in real life situations. I believe that both of these therapy suggestions will benefit this patient and help him with everyday life.