Research article summary: Kjellén, E., Laakso, K., & Henriksson, I. (2017). Aphasia and literacy-the insider’s perspective. International journal of language & communication disorders, 52(5), 573–584. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12302
This month at Let’s CHAT we discussed a research article about aphasia and literacy.
Here is a summary of the research article:
Literacy refers to reading and writing skills. What is more, literacy is “a social practice” which helps us participate in daily life.
The research explored how persons with aphasia (PWA) describe their experience with literacy before and after their brain injury. The researchers interviewed 12 PWA to get their “insider’s perspective” on literacy and aphasia. They asked the participants to describe their experience with literacy and their feelings.
After the onset of aphasia, reading and writing were time-consuming and challenging. Participants describe reading “very carefully” and writing only short notes or emails to communicate. Participants expressed feelings of disappointment, surprise, annoyance, frustration and dissatisfaction:
‘It’s frustrating that writing and reading don’t work’
‘Yes, it’s become a bit irritating, [I’m] a bit sad that it’s like this’
‘I’m a bit, I feel a bit disabled in writing and, that I can’t write properly or write with my name properly’
The participants in the article also said literacy is important for recovery. PWA in the article believed that if they practice reading and writing then their aphasia will improve. They think practice is important and should be relevant or meaningful.
At Let’s CHAT, members shared similar perspectives and feelings. It is normal to experience a loss of literacy after the onset of aphasia. It is understandable to have mixed emotions about this. It is also common to see reading and writing as part of your therapeutic journey.