![]() Previous small, open-label studies examining patients with moderate to severely nonfluent aphasia have found MIT to be a promising path to fluency, and we have outlined and discussed its critical elements and our enhancements to the protocol here. Whether learning to sing, play an instrument, recover language after stroke, or acquire any new skill, the key to mastery is in the process. In addition, sustained vowel sounds provide time to “think ahead” about the next sound, make internal comparisons to the target, and self-correct when sounds produced begin to go awry. However, when words are sung, phonemes are isolated and thus, can be heard distinctly while still connected to the word. ![]() In speech, phonemes occur so quickly it is difficult for severely aphasic and/or apraxic patients to process auditory feedback in time to self-correct. The goal is to uncover the inherent melody in speech to gain fluency and increase expressive output. Because the focus is not on performance, one does not need to be a musician or even a good singer to administer or participate in this treatment. Thus, we aim to simplify the process so any therapist can administer it, and well-trained patients and caregivers can learn to apply the method when intensive treatment ends. While all such variations might have the potential to engage right-hemisphere regions capable of supporting speech, it may be just such complex interpretations of the protocol that prevent therapists with little or no musical background from using the treatment. Still others accompany their patients on the piano, use familiar song melodies, or rapidly “play” 4–5 notes up and down the patient’s arm as they sing words or phrases. Some use 2 pitches separated by a perfect 4 th or 5 th, while others write a new tune for each phrase using as many as 7–8 pitches in a specified key. While early reports 6, 7 depict phrases using 3 pitches rather than the originally specified 2, anecdotal evidence (DVDs from prospective patients across the US) shows a number of therapists using the technique, and no two sessions are alike. ![]() ![]() Interestingly, there appear to be almost as many interpretations of the original protocol as there are people using it. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |