9-2013
All CVAG members have been involved in Speech Therapy. Our group enjoyed talking about what those sessions were like. What is remembered most by CVAG members is the relationship that they had with their Speech Therapist. Details on the skills taught and how those skills were practiced were not so easily recalled. When individual therapy ended, members say, they “wished for more therapy.” However, members were not necessarily clear about what more therapy would involve.
This fall the Chippewa Valley Aphasia Group set out on a new journey. A journey inspired by Elizabeth B.s’ story and directed by many group members’ interests in communication practice.
Throughout life, people practice everything from tying shoes, to penmanship, to dance steps, to swimming strokes. Learning a task depends on one’s interest, capacity, and sometimes instruction. Practice involves specific actions, including the repetition and use of the skill in meaningful contexts.
The CVAG staff developed plans to provide practice in the following areas this year:
- Conversation Practice
- Constraint guided Practice
- Workbook Practice: including exploration of online resources for practice
Conversation Practice
We chose “conversation practice” to start because it is something that everyone wants to do, and because making conversation “work” is a tricky task. Our focus included exploration of the kinds of practice that will help conversation to be more satisfying.
