A treatment for written verb retrieval and sentence construction skills

Abstract

This study examined the effects of a writing treatment on the verb retrieval and sentence construction abilities of a 50-year-old male with chronic, moderate Wernicke's aphasia. The treatment protocol consisted of a cueing hierarchy, word prompt software and home practice, and was applied in the context of a modified multiple-baseline across behaviours design. Following each treatment phase, the patient demonstrated improvements in writing trained verbs at both the word and sentence levels. During the final maintenance probe eight weeks following treatment cessation, the patient's handwritten accuracy had begun to decline but continued to exceed baseline accuracy rates. Furthermore, when he was allowed to use the word prompt software during this final probe, his writing accuracy approximated or exceeded that which he had achieved immediately following the termination of the last treatment phase. Generalization of improved verb retrieval and sentence construction abilities to written and spoken discourse as well as positive qualitative changes in verb retrieval error patterns were observed. Hypotheses regarding the cognitive mechanisms that may underlie these treatment and generalization effects are discussed.