Andrea Atticks, CCC-SLP, Loyola Clinical Centers

 “Karen is a 42-year-old woman with aphasia and apraxia resulting from a stroke four years ago. Karen is working with a speech-language pathology graduate student at the Loyola Clinical Centers and has goals in both verbal and written expression. Karen and her clinician have been using Sentence Shaper, in conjunction with WordQ, to target both of these objectives.

Karen has expressed to her clinician that she wants to convey information more accurately by using complete sentences. Sentence Shaper allows Karen to demonstrate her knowledge of sentence structure and grammatical competence. Karen uses the workspace on Sentence Shaper to manipulate and self-correct her sentence structure and syntax.

Using WordQ, in conjunction with Sentence Shaper, has been an effective link between verbal and written expression. The syntax of Karen’s emails is improving. Specifically, Karen is using the s-v-o structure more accurately and is more often using the appropriate verb. In addition, Karen’s word retrieval has improved and she is responding in conversation more quickly. Overall, she seems to be more confident in her verbal productions.

When asked how she felt about using Sentence Shaper in sessions, Karen responded that,“I like SentenceShaper, hearing voice and recording.” For the first time, Karen is able to provide details and description about her personal family photographs.

The new video feature is a wonderful addition to the program. I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled Karen and her family were today to see her video and the Vimeo website. They all had very positive feedback about the video (tearing up as they talked!) I wish I could videotape her reaction when she sees her videos on Vimeo. Priceless. Thank you for helping to make this happen. Karen, and her family, are so excited and motivated by the process.” Andrea Atticks, CCC-SLP, Loyola Clinical Centers, Baltimore, MD