Abstract
Two expressively restricted aphasic patients were trained to use drawing as an alternative communication mode. Although each subject improved his drawing ability through treatment,their drawing abilities were limited respectively.
Case l became able to draw single objects both at the training room and at home. But in practice with intransitive action pictures, his drawing did not improve beyond copying. As he did not present visuo-spatial or visual-memory problems, his difficulty in learning action pictures was suggested to originate in a deficit of symbolic function for organizing multiple components—agent and objects.
Case 2 came to draw action pictures in the task, and its effect was generalized to include untrained items. Although he often drew action pictures in PACE-format therapy, he could hardly draw action pictures in natural settings. His difficulty in using action pictures in daily situations was suggested to originate in a defect of awareness and using acquired novel communication modes in natural contexts.
It was indicated that further elaborating studies which focus on criteria of therapeutic adaptation and utility in daily life are necessary to estimate the potentiality of drawing as an alternative communication mode for severely impaired aphasic patients.
