Monday, May 4, 2009

May 4, 2009

(DLD) Developmental Language Disorder

or dysphasia


A disorder that is involves a deficit in verbal ability.

agnosia


anosognosia n. Impaired ability or refusal to recognize that one has a sensory or motor impairment or, in some cases following a massive stroke and hemiplegia, even to recognize part of one's body as one's own. Also spelt anosagnosia. See also Anton's syndrome, agnosia. [From French anosognosi, named in 1914 by the French neurologist Josef F(rançois) F(élix) Babinski (1857–1932), from Greek an- without + nosos a disorder + gnosis knowledge + -ia indicating a condition or quality]




How to cite this entry:
"anosognosia n." A Dictionary of Psychology. Edited by Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of North Carolina - Greensboro. 1 May 2009

The film The Color of Words by Philippe Blasband

http://www.lacouleurdesmots.com/

This is the story of Marie, a young woman suffering from dysphasia. Sometimes her mother tongue sounds like a foreign language to her. This excludes her from the communication highways of life.
From one encounter to another, we measure the gap between Marie and the rest of the world, a gap that is very difficult to overcome.


THE COLOUR OF WORDS describes 24 hours in the life of Marie.
Today I will show a French film about a fictitious story of a lady who suffers from Dysphasia. We will briefly discus the film and then discuss treatment options.
The Color of Words
Dysphasia or DLD
The film is a fictitious story of 24 hours of a lady named Marie who suffers from Dysphasia. The film was produced by a French film maker named Philippe Blasband. In real life Mr. Blasband has a child with Dysphasia. He made this movie to show the nightmares a parent has when they wonder what their child’s life will be like as an adult.
In his website, Mr. Blasband interviews a Doctor who tells about Dysphasia.
Before you watch the two minute trailer of the film I would like to explain it a little.
The lady on the right arrives then sits down. She orders some wine. She has paperwork she needs her step sister to sign. Marie mentions she lost her job and has been drinking too much.
The step sister reminds her that the parents she has mentioned are not her real parents. At this point you will notice a change in Marie’s words. Read the captions and notice how the words change. Then, the ywill change back afer she calms down. Keep watching the clip and in a little while you will see the words Marie uses gets back to normal. After the trailer ends I will ask you what you think happened in the film.

2 minute clip

http://www.lacouleurdesmots.com/index_en.html

After the trailer ends:

What did you notice?

What happened?

How did the film maker show her sister’s reaction?

Do you think this is a realistic portrayal of an adult with Dysphasia?

  • How does this portrayal relate to agnosia?

    The two youtube videos we watched are real (actual patients with their therapists) and the film is fiction.

    All three show agnosia.


  • Treatment

    How is aphasia treated?
    http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.asp

    In some cases, a person will completely recover from aphasia

    many people with aphasia experience partial spontaneous recovery

    In these instances, speech-language therapy is often helpful.

    What family can do:


    Simplify language by using short, uncomplicated sentences.

    Repeat the content words or write down key words to clarify meaning as needed.

    Maintain a natural conversational manner appropriate for an adult.

    Minimize distractions, such as a loud radio or TV, whenever possible.

    Include the person with aphasia in conversations.

    Ask for and value the opinion of the person with aphasia, especially regarding family matters.

    Encourage any type of communication, whether it is speech, gesture, pointing, or drawing.

    Avoid correcting the person’s speech.

    Allow the person plenty of time to talk.

    Help the person become involved outside the home. Seek out support groups such as stroke clubs.

    http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.asp
  • ARTICLE

    Music tunes up the brain

    by: Concetta Tomaino, D.A.,
    Executive director of
    The Institute for Music and
    Neurologic Function, Beth
    Israel Abraham Family of Health
    Services, New YorkCity.

    Why teach singing to stroke
    survivors?

    People who have had a stroke on the left
    side of the brain might have expressive
    aphasia
    . They can understand speech,
    but they can't answer with anything more
    than "OK" or by echoing a few words
    they've just heard. However, they can
    often sing complete lyrics to songs. I
    found that if I got my patients to sing a
    lot, they were sometimes able to retrieve'
    words, and if I sang with them every day,
    sometimes they got their speech back. If
    you show objects on a table to people
    with aphasia, 9 times out of 10 they
    can't name them, but if they sing first,
    9 times out of 10 they can. I've seen it
    over and over
    , but now we are in the
    midst of a huge study to prove it rigorously.

    Does music also help other
    neurological ailments?
    Yes. In my first student job I was
    assigned to a dementia unit. Half of the
    people were catatonic, and the other
    half were so agitated they had to have
    their hands tied so they wouldn't pull out
    their nasogastric tubes. In my very first
    session, I started singing "let Me Call
    YouSweetheart." The catatonic people
    opened their eyes, the agitated people
    calmed down, and half of them started
    singing along with me. We have since
    done studies comparing music group
    therapy withconversational group therapy,
    Burn calories. Laughingboosts energy
    expenditure by 10 to 20 percent, according
    to Vanderbilt University researchers.
    Theycalculated that 15minutes of hearty
    laughter could burn up to 40 calories,
    enough to shed more than 4 pounds a
    year if done daily.
    Ease pain. Laughter contracts and
    relaxes muscles in the abdomen, face,
    and shoulders, which might ease muscle
    tension and spasms that contribute
    to pain. And the temporary distraction
    helps too.
    Recommendation: While 4-year-olds
    laugh about every 4 minutes, adults do
    it about once an hour. So spend time
    each day having fun. Trade jokes, watch
    comedies, horse around with your kids
    or grandkids, or share a laugh while in
    line at the grocery store. It will brighten
    your day-and maybe provide a much appreciated
    dose of mirthful medicine.


    ...and while the conversation groups
    improve a little bit, the music groups
    learn and retain a lot of new material.

aphasia/dyshasia

agnosia

Treatment

Treatment

How is aphasia treated?

In some cases, a person will completely recover from aphasia without treatment. This type of spontaneous recovery usually occurs following a type of stroke in which blood flow to the brain is temporarily interrupted but quickly restored, called a transient ischemic attack. In these circumstances, language abilities may return in a few hours or a few days.
For most cases, however, language recovery is not as quick or as complete. While many people with aphasia experience partial spontaneous recovery, in which some language abilities return a few days to a month after the brain injury, some amount of aphasia typically remains. In these instances, speech-language therapy is often helpful. Recovery usually continues over a two-year period. Many health professionals believe that the most effective treatment begins early in the recovery process. Some of the factors that influence the amount of improvement include the cause of the brain damage, the area of the brain that was damaged, the extent of the brain injury, and the age and health of the individual. Additional factors include motivation, handedness, and educational level.
Aphasia therapy aims to improve a person’s ability to communicate by helping him or her to use remaining language abilities, restore language abilities as much as possible, compensate for language problems, and learn other methods of communicating. Individual therapy focuses on the specific needs of the person, while group therapy offers the opportunity to use new communication skills in a small-group setting. Stroke clubs, regional support groups formed by people who have had a stroke, are available in most major cities. These clubs also offer the opportunity for people with aphasia to try new communication skills. In addition, stroke clubs can help a person and his or her family adjust to the life changes that accompany stroke and aphasia.
Family involvement is often a crucial component of aphasia treatment so that family members can learn the best way to communicate with their loved one.
Family members are encouraged to:

Simplify language by using short, uncomplicated sentences.

Repeat the content words or write down key words to clarify meaning as needed.

Maintain a natural conversational manner appropriate for an adult.

Minimize distractions, such as a loud radio or TV, whenever possible.

Include the person with aphasia in conversations.

Ask for and value the opinion of the person with aphasia, especially regarding family matters.

Encourage any type of communication, whether it is speech, gesture, pointing, or drawing.

Avoid correcting the person’s speech.

Allow the person plenty of time to talk.

Help the person become involved outside the home. Seek out support groups such as stroke clubs.

Other treatment approaches involve the use of computers to improve the language abilities of people with aphasia. Studies have shown that computer-assisted therapy can help people with aphasia retrieve certain parts of speech, such as the use of verbs. Computers can also provide an alternative system of communication for people with difficulty expressing language. Lastly, computers can help people who have problems perceiving the difference between phonemes (the sounds from which words are formed) by providing auditory discrimination exercises.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/aphasia.asp

anosognosia

anosognosia n. Impaired ability or refusal to recognize that one has a sensory or motor impairment or, in some cases following a massive stroke and hemiplegia, even to recognize part of one's body as one's own. Also spelt anosagnosia. See also Anton's syndrome, agnosia. [From French anosognosi, named in 1914 by the French neurologist Josef F(rançois) F(élix) Babinski (1857–1932), from Greek an- without + nosos a disorder + gnosis knowledge + -ia indicating a condition or quality]

1. Two youtube videos

2. film The Couleur of Words by Philippe Blasband



Doctor Paule De Ridder-Vanderdeelen, neuropaediatrician, interviewed by Philippe BlasbandWhat simple definition could you give of dysphasia?
Also known as DLD (developmental language disorder), dysphasia is a structural disorder implying deficient acquisition of verbal language.

Friday, May 1, 2009

film

This video may be viewed on the website below:
http://www.lacouleurdesmots.com/bande_en.html







Saturday, April 18, 2009

Music and Aphasia article



Definition of Aphasia

aphasia

→ noun [mass noun] (Medicine) inability (or impaired ability) to understand or produce speech, as a result of brain damage. Compare with aphonia.
THE BRAIN




WERNICKE'S APHASIA









BROCA'S APHASIA






Music tunes up the brain

by: Concetta Tomaino, D.A.,
Executive director of
The Institute for Music and
Neurologic Function, Beth
Israel Abraham Family of Health
Services, New YorkCity.


Why teach singing to stroke
survivors?


People who have had a stroke on the left
side of the brain might have
expressive
aphasia
. They can understand speech,
but they can't answer with anything more
than "OK" or by echoing a few words
they've just heard. However, they can
often sing complete lyrics to songs. I
found that if I got my patients to sing a
lot, they were sometimes able to retrieve'
words, and if I sang with them every day,
sometimes they got their speech back
. If
you show objects on a table to people
with aphasia, 9 times out of 10 they
can't name them, but if they sing first,
9 times out of 10 they can. I've seen it
over and over, but now we are in the
midst of a huge study to prove it rigorously.

Does music also help other
neurological ailments?
Yes. In my first student job I was
assigned to a dementia unit. Half of the
people were catatonic, and the other
half were so agitated they had to have
their hands tied so they wouldn't pull out
their nasogastric tubes. In my very first
session, I started singing "let Me Call
YouSweetheart." The catatonic people
opened their eyes, the agitated people
calmed down, and half of them started
singing along with me. We have since
done studies comparing music group
therapy withconversational group therapy,
Burn calories. Laughingboosts energy
expenditure by 10 to 20 percent, according
to Vanderbilt University researchers.
Theycalculated that 15minutes of hearty
laughter could burn up to 40 calories,
enough to shed more than 4 pounds a
year if done daily.
Ease pain. Laughter contracts and
relaxes muscles in the abdomen, face,
and shoulders, which might ease muscle
tension and spasms that contribute
to pain. And the temporary distraction
helps too.
Recommendation: While 4-year-olds
laugh about every 4 minutes, adults do
it about once an hour. So spend time
each day having fun. Trade jokes, watch
comedies, horse around with your kids
or grandkids, or share a laugh while in
line at the grocery store. It will brighten
your day-and maybe provide a much appreciated
dose of mirthful medicine.



...and
while the conversation groups
improve a little bit, the music groups
learn and retain a lot of new material
.



Music is also helpful for Parkinson's
disease, which causes people to freeze
when they are trying to move. If they're
listening to music with a rhythm that
makes them feel like moving, they can
initiate and continue movement as long
as the music continues. It's very dramatic
and happens almost instantly.
Any benefit for healthy people?
We know from research that people will
work out longer and harder with music,
which stimulates brain chemicals that supress
pain. And reading and performing
music is probably one of the fullest brain
workouts a person can have. You're engaging
in physical coordination, processing
and interpreting a complex written
language, and doing lots of auditory processing,
all at the same time. It's a great
argument for early music education.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Aphasia in the Media

April 3, 2009

Aphasia in the Media

singing as a potential cure