Reading Problems in Chronic Aphasia

Abstract

Thirty-five aphasic subjects who were 1 year or longer post onset of brain injury were given a battery of reading tests which was composed of recognition and oral reading tests for letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs, and comprehension tests for sentences and paragraphs. Results indicated a residual reading disorder or alexia in all subjects, with comprehension tests producing the highest error rate, oral reading tests second, and then recognition tests. Reading ability was found to be related to overall language skill, level of education, and oral reading ability. Results are discussed in light of current theories of reading and future research needs.

Frequency, nature, and predictors of alexia in a convenience sample of individuals with chronic aphasia

“…Overall, we found that the majority (68%) of PWA in this sample met our criteria for alexia (i.e., performing <2 SD below the NC group). This finding is consistent with previous work that has recognised the common occurrence of reading impairment in PWA (Beeson & Hillis, 2001;Cherney, 2004;Riley & Kendall, 2013;Webb & Love, 1983). Furthermore, we found that the alexia type tended to be sublexical in nature, as evidenced by poorer sublexical reading (pseudohomophones and nonwords) compared to lexical reading (regular and irregular words) with 66 out of 67 (98.5%) of the PWA with alexia being at or below chance level performance for sublexical reading (see Figure 3).…”

“…The present investigation expands upon this prior work (Webb & Love, 1983;Wilson et al, 2007) by retrospectively analysing data from a large convenience sample of PWA to further address questions concerning the frequency, subtypes, and previously reported predictors (i.e., education and aphasia severity) of aphasiaassociated alexia.…”

“…Furthermore, in a group of 35 PWA, Webb and Love (1983) found that individuals who had less than high school education read at the single-word and sentence levels significantly worse than those with post-high-school education, and that "overall language disorder" was the best indicator of reading performance.…”

“…While it is broadly known that alexia can occur in the presence of aphasia (Beeson & Hillis, 2001;Cherney, 2004;Riley & Kendall, 2013;Webb & Love, 1983), the frequency of aphasia-associated alexia, its subtypes, and the nature of predictors are uncertain, even as these factors may have implications for aphasia rehabilitation programmes. Most studies of alexia in aphasia have been focused on treatment and, as a result, have been restricted to small sample sizes (Cherney, 2004;Coslett, 2000).…”

Effects of Intensive Phonomotor Treatment on Reading in Eight Individuals With Aphasia and Phonological Alexia

“…A stroke in the left cerebral hemisphere can result in impairments in language (aphasia) and reading (alexia; Cherney, 2004;Webb & Love, 1983). Phonological alexia has been documented as a frequent subtype of alexia in a group of 100 persons with aphasia (PWA; Brookshire et al, 2012).…”