The use of technology to facilitate written language production in people with aphasia

Abstract

In an age when digital technology is becoming central to communication, writing is increasingly important, with messaging and emailing often replacing telephone calls [1]. As written communication shifts to the digital modality, technology poses both challenges and opportunities to people with aphasia. The cognitive and linguistic demands of using technology present potential barriers [2], but recent research has also explored the potential of technology to facilitate writing. This mini review will describe the evidence base for using technology to support written production in aphasia therapy. It will describe a variety of applications, designed to remediate the impairment and facilitate functional writing skills, along with compensatory approaches which aim to bypass impaired writing skills. It will explore the role of the speech and language therapist in selecting the most suitable technology for an individual's needs and in training people with aphasia to use the technology. In addition, it will discuss methods of assessing the technology proficiency and functional writing skills of people with aphasia, and the inherent challenges.