Learning disabilities linked to later language problems

A Chicago university has suggested that a degenerative condition that affects language is linked with learning disabilities.
Scientists at Northwestern University found that people who suffer with primary progressive aphasia, a neurodegenerative condition affecting language, are more likely to have had a history of learning disabilities.People who have the condition experience deterioration in their language capabilities as they get older. The signs of aphasia include struggling to speak expressively, trouble understanding speech, and difficulty with writing and reading. In the report, the scientists state: "This relationship may exist in only a small subgroup of persons with dyslexia without necessarily implying that the entire population with dyslexia or their family members are at higher risk of primary progressive aphasia."The effects of aphasia differ depending on the individual and the symptoms can sometimes be eased by working with a speech therapist.Northwestern University's study has been published in the February edition of Archives of Neurology.

Gesture and aphasia: Helping hands?

Background: The study of communicative gestures is one of considerable interest for aphasia, in relation to theory, diagnosis, and treatment. Significant limitations currently permeate the general (psycho)linguistic literature on gesture production, and attention to these limitations is essential for both continued investigation and clinical application of gesture for people with aphasia.

Aims: The aims of this paper are to discuss i ..............

Caring for a person next to aphasia

At one time or another, we've all have trouble thinking of a word we wanted to right to be heard. Often it's someone's name--even a name we know well. Sometimes, especially when we most want to, we can't remember the pet name of a common point or concept.
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Doctor determined to overcome injury

By CYNTHIA HUBERT
THE SACRAMENTO BEE

last updated: December 31, 2007 11:58:06 AM

SACRAMENTO -- It is a shimmering autumn morning, and Cathy Liu is venturing out into the world.

Just outside the door of her apartment, there are two concrete steps between her and the driveway.

A couple of yards ahead, a tree branch stops her in her tracks.

In front of her, a car roars menacingly down the street.

Cathy takes careful, quiet steps in her neighborhood in the shadow of the bustling UC Davis Medical Center complex, where a few months ago she was a newly minted doctor in training. A thick plastic and metal brace cradles her right leg; her right arm hangs limply at her side. Her bright yellow rain jacket threatens to swallow her small frame. Her dark, bottle-brush hair is starting to grow over the scar that curls across the left side of her head.

Her physical therapist, Susan Matthews, walks beside her, keeping watch the way a tigress might eye her cub. Cathy's mother, Pam, walks a few paces behind them.

At her therapist's request, Cathy pauses now and then to identify everyday things.

"Do ... you ... see ... the ... water?" Cathy asks haltingly, pointing to a puddle.

"Do ... you ... see ... the ... pumpkin?"

"Do ... you ... see ... the ... truck?"

"Great job, Cathy!" Matthews says. Cathy smiles.
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American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

Purpose: The Kentucky Aphasia Test (KAT) is an objective measure of language functioning for persons with aphasia. This article describes materials, administration, and scoring of the KAT; presents the rationale for development of test items; reports information from a pilot study; and discusses the role of the KAT in aphasia assessment.

Method: The KAT has 3 parallel test batteries, KAT-1, KAT-2, and KAT-3. Each battery contains the same orientation test and 6 subtests, each with 10 items, assessing expressive and receptive language functions. Subtests for KAT-1, KAT-2, and KAT-3 systematically increase in difficulty so that it is possible to assess individuals with severe, moderate, and mild aphasia, respectively. The KAT was administered to 38 participants with aphasia and 31 non-brain-damaged (NBD) participants.

Results: Results with the KAT clearly differentiated the language performance of individuals with and without aphasia. NBD participants made few errors, and overall scores on the test for individuals with aphasia were rarely within 1 SD of the NBD group. Performance of the participants with aphasia administered KAT-1, KAT-2, and KAT-3 suggested that the 3 versions of the test represent a hierarchy of difficulty.

Veteran to recount war story that earned France's 'merci'

On Sunday, Nov. 4, just before heading to Washington for the ceremony, Bernie Rader will recount the harrowing adventure that led to his receiving the honor. He and his wife will show a documentary, For One English Officer, and answer questions about his experience at the Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey at 10:30 a.m. The Raders talk is being cosponsored by Temple Emanu'El of Westfield.

The Raders have given their presentation on the POW exchange about 60 times at JCCs, libraries, and other venues throughout the region, working together since a stroke nine years ago left him with aphasia, a language impairment that can make it difficult to speak.

Aphasia

Yesterday, I saw P. She is in her seventies. She saw another physician, who had diagnosed her with Alzheimer's. Actually, she doesn't have that. She has progressive aphasia. Aphasia is when you lose language. She can't find the words that she wants to use. Alzheimer's patients also develop aphasia. But they develop other thinking issues. They have "global" cognitive decline. So this is different. Words that we need get put into a filing cabinet. Then, when we need them we go and retrieve them. P has lost the Next...