Cognitive Communication Disorders: A Case Study

On September 18, 2017, Katie Moss, M.S., CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist from the Transitional Learning Center (TLC), lectured the class about cognitive-communication disorders. She presented several video clips that demonstrated her techniques when working with patients facing a cognitive-communication disorder, in a clinical setting. The goals for each therapy session included restoring the patient’s function and compensating for their deficits, so they can eventually process and communicate normally.
Ms. Moss began the class by stating a cognitive-communicate disorder results from problems with any feature of communication due to a disruption of one or more cognitive processes. Patients experience this type of disorder if there is damage in their frontal lobe from a
Ms. Moss mentioned that these cognitive-communication disorders can vary in severity depending on where the damage occurred in the brain.
The video clips demonstrated a variety of patients with cognitive and language deficits. These deficits can occur on their own or combine with other conditions such as aphasia, alexia and apraxia. Each patient seen was at least eighteen years of age or older and experienced either a brain injury accident or a stroke impairing their cognitive processes. The first patient shown was named JR, and he was diagnosed with aphasia. Ms. Moss’s goal for this therapy session was for the patient to correctly write down each illustration shown to him on the first try. She showed him a picture of a green shirt and expected him to write down the correct word associated with the illustration five times. The patient fully knew what the illustration was but had trouble writing and spelling the word properly. Ms. Moss remained positive with the patient and gave him hints every trial run until he mastered the correct spelling of the illustration. Another technique Ms. Moss utilized to improve the patient’s spelling was by mixing