Learning of Visual Symbols in Severe Aphasic Patients

Abstract

    Four severe aphasic patients were taught 60 words of “LoCoS” the only semantography devised in Japan (Ohta, 1975), as therapy for visual communication. Two patients mastered all items. The third patient's learning of “LoCoS” was incomplete. In the fourth, therapy had to be discontinued because of intense perseveration. Three patients, including the one who stopped therapy, all tried to communicate with their families using visual symbols generated by themselves. One patient, who engaged in little conversation in daily life, used visual symbols to communicate with the therapist. From this outcome, the visual communication therapy seemed to be highly effective in developing the ability to generate “self-symbols”.