An Exploratory Investigation of e-REST: Teletherapy for Chronically Agrammatic Speakers

Authors

  • Marina B. Ruiter Radboud University (Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • Toni C.M. Rietveld Radboud University
  • Vera Hoskam
  • Marijn M.A. van Beers

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2016.6191

Abstract

Delivering aphasia therapy via telecommunication may provide a means to deliver intensive therapy in a cost-effective way. Teletherapy, remotely-administered (language) treatment, may support the repetitive drill practices that people with chronic aphasia need to perform when learning to compensate for their lasting language difficulties. The use of teletherapy may allow speech and language pathologists (SLPs) to focus in-person sessions more strongly on the generalisation of therapy effects to daily life. This single subject study is an investigation whether a teletherapy application called e-REST meets the criteria of accessibility, user-friendliness, as well as effectiveness. e-REST, the teletherapy version of the Dutch and adapted Reduced Syntax Therapy, teaches chronically aphasic speakers of Dutch who experience difficulties in sentence production to convey their messages in a kind of telegraphic style. The results obtained suggest that it is reasonable to conduct a larger study into the user-friendliness, accessibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of e-REST.   

  

References

Barthel, G., Meinzer, M., Djundja, D., & Rockstroh, B. (2008). Intensive language therapy in chronic aphasia: Which aspects contribute most? Aphasiology, 22(4), 408–421.

Basso, A., & Macis, M. (2011). Therapy efficacy in chronic aphasia. Behavioural Neurology, 24(4), 317–325.

Beijer, L., & Rietveld, T. (2011). Potentials of Telehealth Devices for Speech Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease. In J. Dushanova (Ed.), Diagnostics and Rehabilitation of Parkinson’s Disease (pp. 379–402). ISBN: 978-953-307-791-8, InTech, DOI: 10.5772/17865. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/diagnostics-and-rehabilitation-of-parkinson-s-disease/potentials-of-telehealth-devices-for-speech-therapy-in-parkinson-s-disease.

Beijer, L., & Rietveld, T. (2015). Asynchronous telemedicine applications in rehabilitation of acquired speech-language disorders in neurologic patients. Smart Homecare Technology and TeleHealth, 3, 39–48.

Boxum, E., van der Scheer, F., & Zwaga, M. (2013). ASTA: Analyse voor Spontane Taal bij Afasie [ASTA: Analysis of the spontaneous speech produced by people with aphasia]. Vereniging voor Klinische Linguistiek.

Brady, M. C., Kelly, H., Godwin, J., & Enderby, P. (2012). Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5(5), CD000425.

Brindley, P., Copeland, M., Demain, C., & Martyn, P. (1989). A comparison of the speech of ten chronic Broca’s aphasics following intensive and non-intensive periods of therapy. Aphasiology, 3(8), 695–707.

Brookshire, R., & Nicholas, L. (1994). Test-retest stability of measures of connected speech in aphasia. Clinical Aphasiology, 22, 119–133.

Cherney, L. R., & van Vuuren, S. (2012). Telerehabilitation, virtual therapists, and acquired neurologic speech and language disorders. Seminars in Speech and Language, 33(3), 243–257.

Code, C. (2012). Apportioning time for aphasia rehabilitation. Aphasiology, 26(5), 729–735.

Code, C., & Petheram, B. (2011). Delivering for aphasia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(1), 3–10.

Code, C., Torney, A., Gildea-Howardine, E., & Willmes, K. (2010). Outcome of a one-month therapy intensive for chronic aphasia: variable individual responses. Seminars in Speech and Language, 31(1), 21–33.

Currell, R., Urquhart, C., Wainwright, P., & Lewis, R. (2000). Telemedicine versus face to face patient care: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (2), CD002098.

Graetz, P., de Bleser, R., & Willmes, K. (1992). De Akense Afasietest [The Aachen Aphasia Test]. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.

Hallowell, B., & Chapey, R. (2008). Introduction to language intervention strategies in adult aphasia. In R. Chapey (Ed.), Language Intervention strategies in aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Holm, S. (1979). A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 6, 65–70.

Kolk, H. (2006). How language adapts to the brain: An analysis of agrammatic aphasia. In L. Progovac, K. Paesani, E. Casielles, & E. Barton (Eds.), The syntax of nonsententials: Multi-disciplinary perspectives (pp. 229–258). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

McNeil, M. R., & Pratt, S. R. (2001). Defining aphasia: Some theoretical and clinical implications of operating from a formal definition. Aphasiology, 15(10-11), 901–911.

Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport. (2012). De zorg: Hoeveel extra is het ons waard? [Health care: How much extra are we prepared to pay?]. Retrieved from www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/betaalbaarheid-van-de-zorg/documenten-en-publicaties/rapporten/2012/06/12/rapport-de-zorg-hoeveel-extra-is-het-ons-waard.html.

Mortley, J., Wade, J., & Enderby, P. (2004). Superhighway to promoting a client-therapist partnership? Using the internet to deliver word-retrieval computer therapy, monitored remotely with minimal speech and language therapy input. Aphasiology, 18(3), 193–211.

Munzel, U. (1999). Nonparametric methods for paired samples. Statica Neerlandica, 53(3), 277-286.

Parmanto, B., & Saptono, A. (2009). Telerehabilitation: State-of-the-art from an informatics perspective. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 1(1), 73–83.

Penning de Vries, B. W. F., Bodnar, S. E., Cucchiarini, C., Strik, H., & Van Hout, R. W. N. M. (2013). Spoken grammar practice in an ASR-based CALL system. In Proceedings of SLaTE 2013 (pp. 60–65). Grenoble, France.

Progovac, L. (2006). The syntax of nonsententials: Small clauses and phrases at the root. In L. Progovac, K. Paesani, E. Casielles, & E. Barton (Eds.), The Syntax of Nonsententials: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 33–71). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Rogante, M., Grigioni, M., Cordella, D., & Giacomozzi, C. (2010). Ten years of telerehabilitation: A literature overview of technologies and clinical applications. NeuroRehabilitation, 27(4), 287–304.

Ruiter, M. (2008). Speaking in ellipses: The effect of a compensatory style of speech on functional communication in chronic agrammatism. PhD-thesis, Radboud Univserstiy, Nijmegen.

Ruiter, M. B., Kolk, H. H. J., & Rietveld, T. C. M. (2010). Speaking in ellipses: the effect of a compensatory style of speech on functional communication in chronic agrammatism. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 20(3), 423–458.

Ruiter, M. B., Kolk, H. H. J., Rietveld, T. C. M., & Feddema, I. (2013). Combining possibly reciprocally dependent linguistic parameters in the quantitative assessment of aphasic speakers’ grammatical output. Aphasiology, 27(3), 293–308.

Sanders, E., Ruiter, M., Beijer, L., & Strik, H. (2002). Automatic recognition of Dutch dysarthric speech: A pilot study. Proceedings of the International Conference on Spoken Language Processing (pp. 661-664), 16–21 September, 2002, Denver, CO, USA.

Schlenck, C., Schlenck, K.J., & Springer, L. (1995). Die Behandlung des schweren Agrammatismus - Reduzierte-Syntax-Therapie (REST) [Treatment of severe agrammatism - Reduced Syntax Therapy (REST)]. Stuttgart: Thieme.

Strik, H. (2012). ASR-based systems for language learning and therapy. In Proceedings of IS-ADEPT (International Symposium on Automatic Detection of Errors in Pronunciation Training) 2012 (pp. 9–14). Stockholm: Sweden: KTH.

Theodoros, D. (2012). A new era in speech-language pathology practice: innovation and diversification. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 14(3), 189–199.

Wilcox, R. (2012). Modern Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.

Yorkston, K. M., & Beukelman, D. R. (1980). An analysis of connected speech samples of aphasic and normal speakers. The Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 45(1), 27–36.

Published

2016-07-01

How to Cite

Ruiter, M. B., Rietveld, T. C., Hoskam, V., & van Beers, M. M. (2016). An Exploratory Investigation of e-REST: Teletherapy for Chronically Agrammatic Speakers. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 8(1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2016.6191

Issue

Section

Intervention