Examining for Aphasia
Introduction
Examining For Aphasia was created in 1954 by John Eisenson in New York (Eisenson, 1954). It was one of the first tests for assessing language impairment (Benson & Ardila, 1996) and provides a guided approach for evaluating language disturbances.. The test was originally developed for use with patients in an army hospital who had aphasia and other related disturbances. Over time, the original inventory was refined and improved until testing has ‘shown the applicability of various parts of the test as well as of the examination as a whole’ (Eisenson, 1954, p. 32) and gave rise to the commercial version.
Purpose
The purpose of Examining for Aphasia (EFA) is to examine adolescents and adults whose language abilities have become impaired, but had previously had normal language functioning. Its main purpose is to ascertain the type and level of the language dysfunction (Eisenson, 1954). EFA aims to help the clinician discover what abilities remain, with the end goal of forming the basis of a program of retraining.
Construction
EFA is divided into two main parts – receptive and expressive. The first part includes items to test abilities the patient’s capacity to recognize items. The second part tests expressive abilities, not verbal and non-verbal. Within both sections, the tests are further divided into ‘sub-symbolic’ and ‘higher symbolic’ levels, which includes reading, spelling writing and arithmetic calculations (Browndyke, 2002).
Procedures for administration
Test administration is exceedingly flexible; the examiner can choose between administering either the receptive or the expressive portion first (Browndyke, 2002), and can elect to administer all the lower-level tests before the higher-level tests. For many items only general directions are provided, and much of the test relies on the individual interpretation of the examiner. Administration time is predicted to be ‘as little as one half hour for a patient with relatively little disturbance
Examining For Aphasia was created in 1954 by John Eisenson in New York (Eisenson, 1954). It was one of the first tests for assessing language impairment (Benson & Ardila, 1996) and provides a guided approach for evaluating language disturbances.. The test was originally developed for use with patients in an army hospital who had aphasia and other related disturbances. Over time, the original inventory was refined and improved until testing has ‘shown the applicability of various parts of the test as well as of the examination as a whole’ (Eisenson, 1954, p. 32) and gave rise to the commercial version.
Purpose
The purpose of Examining for Aphasia (EFA) is to examine adolescents and adults whose language abilities have become impaired, but had previously had normal language functioning. Its main purpose is to ascertain the type and level of the language dysfunction (Eisenson, 1954). EFA aims to help the clinician discover what abilities remain, with the end goal of forming the basis of a program of retraining.
Construction
EFA is divided into two main parts – receptive and expressive. The first part includes items to test abilities the patient’s capacity to recognize items. The second part tests expressive abilities, not verbal and non-verbal. Within both sections, the tests are further divided into ‘sub-symbolic’ and ‘higher symbolic’ levels, which includes reading, spelling writing and arithmetic calculations (Browndyke, 2002).
Procedures for administration
Test administration is exceedingly flexible; the examiner can choose between administering either the receptive or the expressive portion first (Browndyke, 2002), and can elect to administer all the lower-level tests before the higher-level tests. For many items only general directions are provided, and much of the test relies on the individual interpretation of the examiner. Administration time is predicted to be ‘as little as one half hour for a patient with relatively little disturbance
References: Benson, D. F., & Ardila, A. (1996). Aphasia : a clinical perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. Browndyke, J. (2002). Aphasia Assessment Retrieved 9 May 2012, from http://www.neuropsychologycentral.com/interface/content/resources/page_material/resources_general_materials_pages/resources_document_pages/aphasia_assessment.pdf Eisenson, J. (1954). Examining for aphasia : a manual for the examination of aphasia and related disturbances. New York: Psychological Corporation. Skenes, L. L., & McCauley, R. J. (1985). Psychometric review of nine aphasia tests. Journal of Communication Disorders, 18(6), 461-474. doi: 10.1016/0021-9924(85)90033-4