It never ends: Digital camera and digital pictures as a rehabilitation aid for people with aphasia

In English This paper describes a longitudinal study involving a woman who developed aphasia as the result of a stroke in 1991. Her language and communication abilities have gradually improved, but the biggest improvements have taken place after she began using a digital camera in 1997. The paper describes both changes that have been objectively measured, such as the number of words in her vocabulary and her fluency of text, and changes that have been subjectively assessed, for instance the fact that both the subject and her relatives and friends think that her speech and communication abilities have improved. The subject has documented her own language development and this paper contains an analysis of this documentation. Explanations as to why her language and communication abilities have improved are also put forward.