Aphasia assessment and therapy using hypertext-related tasks

Abstract

This paper discusses the potential usefulness of hypertext tools in communication disorders, particularly in aphasia assessment and therapy. The assessment of language comprehension abilities can be enhanced by evaluating patient performance on information-retrieval tasks. Hypertext tools can be used to gather information about patients' planning abilities and their semantic understanding of the available information. The paper explores the use of hypertext for generating therapy material which works with existing methods of aphasia therapy, and highlights its importance in evaluating verbal and non-verbal abilities. Patient performance on hypertext-related tasks can be quantified with the proposed parameters which quantify the degree of language deficit through information retrieval and understanding processess. These parameters need to be tested for their importance in outcome management:whether they are sensitive enough to measure changes or not. The role of hypertext applications in developing therapy exercise is discussed. The advantages of hypertext tools in single case-studies is highlighted, and an active role for hypertext applications in aphasia management is suggested.