Word Retrieval Treatments for Aphasia: Connected Speech Outcomes

We examined changes in connected speech in individuals with aphasia following errorless naming treatment and gestural facilitation of naming administered in a single-participant crossover design. In addition to picture naming, participants completed two connected speech tasks during baseline and after each training phase. Positive training effect sizes in picture naming were associated with increased use of Correct Information Units and substantive nouns in connected speech. Greater use of CIUs and substantive nouns were evident for a questions task over a picture description task. Open-ended questions tended to be more effective than picture description for documenting speech changes associated with treatment