TONI BLANK: A CASE STUDY OF THE LANGUAGE OF A SCHIZOPHRENE

Schizophrenia is one of the chronic mental disorders. Patients of schizophrenia cannot communicate with others properly. Also, they cannot produce good utterances syntactically and semantically. This is caused by their language dysfunction. In this research, I am interested in analyzing language dysfunction in schizophrenia. I choose Toni Blank‟s utterances in “Toni Blank Show Session One” as the object of my research. I focus on how schizophrenic‟s language dysfunctions are classified and how these dysfunctions are being analyzed using linguistic framework. To analyze the data, I used Thought, Language, and Communication (TLC) scale and cohesion coherence frameworks. The purpose of this study is to give linguistic analysis about phenomena of language dysfunctions uttered by Toni Blank in “Toni Blank Show Session One”. The data used in this research are utterances which contain language dysfunctions from three episodes in “Toni Blank Show Session One”, entitled “Valentine Day”, “Teroris”, and “Sehat Ala Mas Toni”. I used purposive sampling to collect the data. In analyzing the data, I used Padan and Agih methods by Sudaryanto (1993). To interpret the data, I used cohesion and coherence framework. In 26 utterances which contain schizophrenic‟s language dysfunctions in “Toni Blank Show Session One”, I find that the language dysfunctions which are uttered by Toni are poverty of content, tangentiality, loss of goal, circumstantiality, illogicality, incoherence (word salad), neologism, clanging, echolalia, and self-reference. Poverty of speech, pressure of speech, distractibility, derailment, stilted speech, perseveration, and blocking are not found in the data. Keywords: schizophrenia, language dysfunction, Toni Blan

Autism and Communication: A Phenomenology of Parents’ Perspectives

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by language impairments and are often treated with a variety of communication interventions. In addition to these interventions, the parents of autistic children have to learn how to care for and communicate with their children on a daily basis, especially when their children do not speak. This study made use of phenomenological investigation techniques to explore (1) what parents understand about communication with their nonspeaking autistic children and (2) what particular strategies they find to be effective. Six mothers of autistic children were interviewed, and resulting themes were divided according to parents’ understandings and the formal and informal strategies they use. Implications for practice and future research are given

Teaching Language to Students with Autism

This meta-synthesis of the literature on methods of instruction to students with ASD examines the various methods of teaching language to students with ASD. While each student learns language at his or her own pace, the author has found that certain methods yield results quicker, and these methods need to be examined critically for any literature on their reliability, efficacy, and scientific research. If a student with autism can be taught language quickly, therefore mitigating any further delays in academic development relative to peers, then this methodology should be made accessible to all teachers of such students

Aphasia with anatomical isolation of the language area: A reanalysis on the light of modern neuroimaging techniques

Introduction : Goldstein (1948) and Geschwind (1968), based in data derived from anatomical post-mortem studies, postulated that the disconnection of the perisylvian language areas (PSLA) from other cortical areas was responsible for impairments in spontaneous speech and language comprehension with preservation of verbal repetition and echolalia (isolation of speech area). Nevertheless, other mechanisms (right hemisphere or bilateral hypotheses) underlying echolalic repetition have been proposed. Herein, we examined the structure and function of the PSLAs in two cases of aphasia with echolalic repetition and isolation of the left PSLA. Methods : Two patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia associated to isolation of the left PSLA were studied. Both patients underwent cognitive-language assessment and multimodal imaging. In patient 1 (p1), structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), functional MRI (fMRI) during repetition of words and non-words, resting state fMRI (rsfMRI) were acquired, whereas only structural MRI was performed in patient 2 (p2). The Tractotron software was used to examine the severity of disconnection in each language-related white matter tract in both patients. We quantified the severity of the disconnection by measuring the proportion of each tract that was affected. 18FDG-PET was also acquired in both patients. Results : P1 had a mixed transcortical aphasia and p2 had a transcortical sensory/anomic aphasia. In both, the MRI showed separate left anterior and posterior lesions with relative preservation of the PSLA. In both, 18FDG-PET revealed significant decrements of metabolic activity in areas of the left PSLA, although some parts showed normal metabolic activity. In p1 the left arcuate fasciculus (AF) and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi (IFOF) could not be reconstructed. fMRI showed perilesional activity in the left hemisphere and increased activity in the right during word repetition. rsfMRI showed compensatory activity in both hemispheres (right greater than left). Analysis with the Tractotron software revealed disconnection of both the AF and the IFOF in the left hemisphere of both patients. Discussion : Although some parts of the left PSLA had preserved metabolic activity in both patients, our neuroimaging data revealed that preserved repetition ability did not rely exclusively on the residual activity of the left PSLA. In support, the connectivity between different components of the left PSLA was severely affected. This coupled with the increased metabolic activity of the right PSLA supports the bilateral hypothesis of residual repetition in transcortical aphasias. References : Goldstein, K. (1948). Language and Language Disturbances. Geschwind, et al. (1968). Neuropsychologia 6, 327–340.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Autism spectrum disorders

The earlier that children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) receive referral, diagnosis and intervention, the better the long-term results are for those children and their families (Barbaro & Dissanyake, 2009; Wiggins et al., 2006; Mandell et al., 2005). Primary health care professionals, such as child and family health nurses and GPs, can listen to parent concerns and be alert to the signs of developmental delay in infancy and early childhood to facilitate early referral and diagnosis. Indeed, Barbaro & Dissanayake state that primary health care professionals, given their extensive knowledge and training on developmental milestones, are the best placed – and most expert – to observe young children’s development and to identify early signs of ASDs (2010, p. 377). ASD IN AUSTRALIA: AN OVERVIEW ASD is the term used to refer to three types of developmental disorder: Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). A diagnosis of one of the three indicates a developmental deficit of varying severity in the areas of: communication social skills and/or behaviour No two children with an ASD are the same, as they each have varying degrees of developmental deficit in the above three areas. This is why the term ‘spectrum’ is used when describing the disorder. In this article we will use the term ASD when referring to the all three of the disorders. Diagnoses of ASD have increased markedly since the 1990s. Prior to this, children were generally diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay or intellectual disability. Williams et al. (2008) found that: The current rate of prevalence in Australia is estimated at 1 in 160. Rates of diagnosis vary by state and territory due to differences in the way a diagnosis can be reached. Australian data show that about four boys are diagnosed with ASD for every one girl. The cause of ASD is not known, but is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. It is not caused by anything the family does or does not do. Despite the recognition that signs of ASD can appear in infancy, one study from America found that the average age of diagnosis is around three or four years old (Mandell et al., 2005). In specialist centres, diagnoses can be made for some children as early as 24 months, and rarely earlier. Significant research is being done to try and reduce the average age of diagnosis as this may lead to an earlier intervention. In turn, earlier intervention could help improve developmental outcomes for children and their families and lessen the long-term impact of an ASD for an individual child (Barbaro & Dissanyake, 2009)

Analyzing the efficacy of improvisational music therapy as a treatment method for children with ASD

The field of CSD relies on evidence-based practice or the notion that all therapy and evaluation procedures are determined by clinical opinion or reliable research. Several studies have been conducted on the efficacy of music therapy as a treatment method for children with autism; however, this method is not widely practiced by speech-language pathologists. This literature review outlines the results, strengths and weaknesses of 14 studies on the efficacy of music therapy for children with ASD. The studies were an average of 20 weeks, with 1-3 sessions per week ranging from 30-60 minutes. The sessions were all conducted by music therapists and included both individual and group sessions. The studies revealed music therapy leads to significant improvement for children with ASD in the following areas: joint attention, eye gaze, turn-taking, selective attention, expressive language, Social-emotional reciprocity, motor skills, and emotional synchrony. The paper also includes relevant background information on why music therapy works especially well for children with ASD, and suggestions for practical clinical implementation and future research. The overarching goal of this paper is to encourage SLPs to explore the research that exists outside of play-based therapy in order to ensure the best possible treatment and outcomes for children with ASD.Communication Sciences and Disorder

Echolalia in children with Asperger's Syndrome: a speech therapy approach

Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de FonoaudiologiaCentro Universitário de AraraquaraUNIFESP, Depto. de FonoaudiologiaSciEL