Process-Oriented Treatment of Right Hemisphere Communication Disorders

ABSTRACT

Lacking knowledge about the cognitive processes that underlie communication impairments in patients with right hemisphere damage (RHD) and driven by increasingly limited treatment duration, speech-language pathologists often give little thought to process-oriented treatment. However, operating from a theoretical perspective in which treatment targets the processes that underlie symptoms can result in more effective treatment of a range of symptoms due to a common processing impairment. This article provides research-driven therapeutic approaches based on sound theoretical perspectives that can be combined with task-specific therapy to maximize therapeutic outcomes with this clinical population.

KEY WORDS

treatment strategies - communication deficits - underlying processes