Development of a Kana Training Program for Aphasic Patients

-using a key one-syllable word and a cue to retrieve its meaning-

Abstract

We developed a training program to improve writing and reading of Kana characters for aphasic patients. The program employed a key one-syllable word written in Kanji coupled with a cue word for retrieving the semantic aspect of the key word. The cue word consists of a complex word which has a key one-syllable word in the first syllable.
This program was administered to three aphasic patients : two severe to moderate Broca's aphasic patients, and a severe Wernicke's aphasic patient. The results indicated that all patients showed improvement in writing to dictation and reading aloud one-syllable Kana characters. However, the degree of improvement in writing and reading differed among patients, ranging from word to sentence level. The program was seen to be beneficial for severe aphasic patients who showed no improvement with methods using multi-syllabic key words.
Candidates for this program must satisfy the following three conditions : (1) preservation of ability to learn word writing in Kanji, (2) preservation of ability to repeat words, Q3 high motivation for therapy.