Recovering minimum communication circuits

Degrees of pragmatic severity in aphasia

Degrees of pragmatic severity in aphasia (click here)

In literature on speech therapy and neurology a broad criterion is applied when addressing “severe patients”. We understand that, in order to perform a more accurate assessment, rehabilitation and follow up of the severe aphasic patient’s advances and regressions, it is necessary to determine what severe pragmatic failures mean and to establish degrees of severity. Within our line of work, we start understanding that pragmatic features are those difficulties having an impact on the use of verbal and/or nonverbal language, which affect the adjustment of such language to the communicative situation (coherence).

From this concept, a patient presents a severe pragmatic compromise when he or she does not perform the eight basic speech acts of asserting, rejecting, requesting (object), action, greeting, giving information and requesting information (Abraham & Brenca, 2016). At the same time, by considering the pragmatic features of each of these basic speech acts, three degrees of severity including specific levels were established.

A complexity progression criterion is followed (from the most basic to the most developed). It allows to record severity variations due to spontaneous recoveries, advances resulting from therapeutic work or a typical deterioration of the clinical condition.