6. Sign-Communication Intervention in Adults and Children with Aphasia

Chapter 6 focuses on the language and communication impairments of adults and children that may be acquired after suffering a head injury, stroke, brain infection, tumor, or other similar trauma. Such persons may have had intact language abilities before the trauma, but often present with varying degrees of severity of aphasia that may temporarily or permanently affect their receptive understanding of language and/or their production of language. Although most of the literature examines such deficits in hearing persons and the resulting impact on spoken language, deaf persons may also experience aphasic impairments to their production and understanding of sign language. An examination of apraxia, which often co-occurs with aphasia, provides another dimension that needs to be analyzed when addressing strategies for language rehabilitation. The outcomes of sign-communication interventions in persons with aphasia are presented, along with a focus on Amer-Ind, pantomime skills, and the use of signing to facilitate speech. Finally, the authors address speech and language disorders such as acquired childhood aphasia (Landau-Kleffner syndrome), developmental language disorder (formerly known as specific language impairment) in both hearing and deaf children, and childhood apraxia of speech.