PI: Marion Leaman, Ph.D. CCC-SLP, University of Kansas Medical Center
Title: ECoLoGiC Speech Therapy Treatment: Meeting the Everyday Communication Needs of People with Aphasia Following Stroke
Prior to getting her doctorate, Marion Leaman, Ph.D., was a speech language pathologist specializing in aphasia, which is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person’s ability to process language but does not affect intelligence. The most common cause of aphasia is stroke, but it can also result from a brain injury, brain tumor or other neurological causes. During a stroke, the language center of a person’s brain can be affected due to a lack of blood flow to the area. Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia have trouble writing and understanding what they read.
For her Lauren S. Aaronson Pilot Study, Leaman is working on a novel therapy, ‘ECoLoGiC Treatment’ to help patients and their families/caregivers in everyday conversation. Most speech therapy programs for people with aphasia use worksheets and other exercises like naming common objects. Leaman’s study is focusing on everyday conversations because people with aphasia and their families say this would be more impactful to their treatment.
This study focuses on spontaneous conversation, while also providing the speech language pathologist with structure and guidelines to conduct the program. The grant will also allow Leaman to begin developing material that families and caregivers can use at home to help with the person with aphasia’s therapy and allow them to continue to progress throughout the therapy process. A unique aspect of the study is that Leaman is collaborating with people who have aphasia and their spouses to help create the material around this treatment.
“I’m grateful to Frontiers for providing this funding for my second study on aphasia therapy treatment,” she said. “This funding will help me gather additional data so that I can have a strong foundation to continue working on this treatment. The grant will also position me for success when applying for additional grant funding in the future.”
For additional information or to learn more about aphasia, visit these resources:
