The aim of this study was to investigate the capabilities of aphasic patients in the discrimination of pitch-accent and tone in relation to the severity of aphasia. The subjects were 74 aphasics and 19 normal controls. They were asked to make same/different judgments of pitch patterns in the pair of stimuli: two-mora-word pairs and two-mora-non-word pairs (pitch-accent task), and non-linguistic tone pairs (tonal task). The words in the pairs were the same in phonemes but different in accent patterns. The tones had similar pitch patterns to Japanese accent patterns. The findings were as follows: 1) The aphasics' capabilities of pitch-accent discrimination were poorer than those of the normal controls; 2) the severer the degree of aphasia, the poorer the patient's performance in the tasks; 3) there was a strong correlation between scores on the pitch-accent task and those on the tonal task; and 4) a gentle incline of the contours of pitch patterns made it more difficult for aphasics to distinguish pitch patterns in both the tasks. Characteristics of pitch-accent discrimination observed in aphasics are further discussed.

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The purpose of this study is to describe coping behaviors in communication between deafblind people and their family members. Ten deafblind adults and their family members were interviewed. The interviews were focused on the participants' own descriptions of communication issues. Transcribed protocols were analyzed according to the KJ method, which is one of the methods of qualitative data analysis. The results revealed two qualitatively different aspects of communication issues: ‘conveying messages’ and ‘participating in the social interaction’. While the former aspect represents the precision of information exchange, the latter represents the ability to respond appropriately to social situations. The demanding situations for deafblind people and their family members correlate strongly with the aspect of ‘participating in the social interaction’. Thus, it is important to understand this aspect when dealing with coping behavior in communication between deafblind people and their families.

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People with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) have a different culture from ours. In order that they may live a useful life, it is necessary for us to understand their cognitive characteristics correctly and help them to communicate successfully with others from an early stage, since they are of the minority and are in a disadvantageous position in the world. Visual cues for communication are of help to autistic people, just as glasses are to the short-sighted and canes are to the physically-handicapped, and so we should notice their handicap and start to give them necessary help at an early stage. It is suggested that this is the significance of early diagnosis for PDD.

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One of the roles of speech and language therapists is to support people living with aphasia in making and sustaining better relationships with more people in their community. This paper describes five kinds of activities that the author has supported: home visits, group recreation, a volunteer supported conversational group, domestic and overseas tours for aphasia peer circles, and a mini-factory for people with right hemiplegia and aphasia. Reflecting on these activities, the idea of an aphasia-friendly day care service emerges: one that is provided by full-time staff including speech and language therapists under the long-term care insurance system, and is most suitable for people with chronic aphasia, total aphasia, deteriorating intellectual abilities and also for the elderly in their 80s and 90s. The importance and value of this aphasia-friendly day care service and its financing are discussed, together with suggestions about how it might be promoted.

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