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This article is a written transcript of the course, “Steps to Success Through Technology for Individuals with Aphasia”, presented by Denise McCall on August 29, 2011.
>> Amy Natho: I would like to welcome you to the SpeechPathology.com e-learning Expert Seminar. Today's presentation is called “Steps to Success Through Technology for Individuals with Aphasia.” My name is Amy Natho and I'll be your moderator today. At this time it is my great pleasure and quite an honor to introduce Denise McCall. Denise McCall, M.A., CCC-SLP, has over 25 years of experience as a clinician and researcher. Her work is primarily focused on investigating the effectiveness of software-based language treatment for people with aphasia. For the past two decades, she's been part of the design and implementation of several grant-funded research projects investigating language rehabilitation interventions for individuals with aphasia, and she has collaborated with interdisciplinary researchers in the fields of neuropsychology, neurology, linguistics and computer science. In 2008 she co-founded the Snyder Center for Aphasia Life Enhancement (SCALE) and has focused on developing SCALE’s technology program using the Life Participation Approach to aphasia. So welcome, Denise. We're so glad you could be here with us today.
>> Denise McCall: Thank you, Amy. Hello. As Amy said, I'm the Director of Snyder Center in Baltimore that employs the Life Participation Approach to aphasia. However, most of my career has been as a research speech-language pathologist, looking at the goal of restoring speech to people with aphasia. I've had the opportunity to obtain unique experience in using specific technologies for people with aphasia as I worked intensively with a large number of individuals who presented with global aphasia as well as many with nonfluent aphasia, and I saw the same individuals across many years. I learned and continue to learn a great deal about the benefits and limitations of technology from them.
In my clinical work at SCALE over the past 3 years, this area of expertise has greatly benefited many of our members with aphasia, who have embraced technology and who have successfully incorporated specific programs and devices into their everyday lives. Our program focuses heavily on the use of technology to help our members with reading, writing and speaking, and gives them access to the same technologies that you and I use every day. Like us, they want to use mainstream technology like digital cameras, iPod®s and iPad®s for enjoyment to read, obtain information, and communicate through e-mail, Skype and the Internet. We believe that people with aphasia have the right to add these same technologies that you and I use every day. In order to access them, we must expose them to the purposes for using it.
SCALE provides the support for folks needed to learn and use these technologies. We utilize volunteers and students to support our members in learning. We use iPads and apps in several of our classes, with members serving as librarians. The goal is to empower them to use the iPad to access the Internet and/or use various apps for word finding or support when additional information is needed in a class. We use supported software to assist our members, and reading materials on the Internet and e-mail. Our members use Skype to communicate with other folks with aphasia throughout the world. And we teach classes using technology like digital cameras.
We use the Aphasia Corner service, where our members can access news stories that are aphasia friendly. This service allows users to listen to current news stories as they're read aloud. The text is highlighted and users can adjust the speed of presentation. You can read more about that service by going to www.aphasiacorner.com.
There are a lot of ways to empower people with aphasia to more fully participate in life with the support of technology; however, I'm not going to have time to talk about all the aspects of our program in detail today. Instead, I will refer you to an article that was recently published in Closing the Gap Solutions (https://www.closingthegap.com/solutions/articles) entitled, “Apps for Older Adults” (Gomory, 2011;). And I've provided the link to SCALE's new YouTube channel, “SCALEVision,” where members are posting videos that they're using for teaching about aphasia (http://www.youtube.com).
SCALE’s Use of Technology
At SCALE, we use technology in our program to accomplish several goals. As I mentioned, we use technology to provide people with aphasia access to mainstream technology. But we also use it to support and empower people with aphasia to more fully participate in the community, and to restore language. We use specific programs functionally to support participation in the community. We embrace software that has been empirically tested, but also explore the potential of new technologies, programs and apps that our members want to use. The most exciting news is that we're seeing as some folks use these technologies to augment communication in small groups and in the community, their natural language production is also improving. There are some studies examining these effects that I'll briefly review in a moment. We currently have 37 members with aphasia at SCALE and of those, 20 use technology on a regular basis during their full one or two days a week at the center, as well as at home and in the community. I believe that SCALE members have been successful because our program provides critical steps to success that promote acceptance of technology and the support needed to use it.
We know from research that intensity is important and that it takes a long time for most users to become good at using programs and devices. Clinically, I have found that folks with aphasia need ongoing support to manage these things, and we incorporate that into our treatment plans for anyone who will be using these programs or devices. At SCALE, we have come up with some creative ways to promote success with technology that I will share with you today. These methods will allow people with aphasia to obtain the intensity, time and support required to promote successful use of technology in their everyday lives. If I were unable to do this kind of work at SCALE, I would be incorporating technology into my clinical practice, and use many of the same steps in my treatment plan and a small set of tools to assist me in achieving outcomes. So today, I would like to share those steps and the treatment tools with you, with the goal of inspiring you to find ways to provide those with aphasia whom you serve the choice of using technology.
The influences on my approach to using technology with people with aphasia come from the ethnographic research that is conducted by computer scientists and folks like Barbara Purvis in the participatory design of computer software. The idea is to take direction from the user; in this case, people with aphasia. This fits well with the consumer-driven, Life Participation Approach that is used at SCALE.
So what is it that we do with technology? I asked my friends with aphasia, “What is it that we do with technology at SCALE that means the most to you?” The answer was, “I want to tell my stories.” This is what the experts - people living with aphasia - want. So this is my treatment goal.
