Aphasia Couples Therapy (ACT) Workbook

While workbooks for people with aphasia are not hard to find, they tend to be addressed to the clinical needs of the speech pathologist. However, current practice in the field aims to put more control in the hands of those with aphasia and their caregivers.

This workbook enables you to empower your clients and their caregivers in becoming practically involved in improving everyday life during and after therapy. With insurer sessions limited, ACT provides an easy-to-use, practical continuation of therapy. Unlike every other workbook currently available, ACT is arranged in a functional format to cover everyday activities in a format easily accessible to clients and their spouses or caregivers.

This workbook is geared toward the couple, rather than the client alone; it can be used by the speech pathologist as well as the significant other; and it is hierarchically organized, such that those with mild through severe impairment can use it. Additionally, rather than being organized by sensory modality, the ACT Workbook is arranged in a more functional format with activities and tasks covering a range of activities that might be a part of the routine or aspirations of the client. For example, reading the morning paper is a task many of us take for granted: it is not intuitively obvious how to alter a newspaper to make it "aphasia-friendly". By choosing a level of difficulty appropriate for the client's communicative level, and by using carefully chosen (suggested in the workbook) supplementary material (e.g., magnifiers, half-page blocks, highlighters, etc.), the spouse can make this a viable activity again.

Professor Boles has succeeded in producing a workbook that meets the modern practice needs of the busy clinician as well as enabling them to help empower clients' spouses in becoming practically involved in the care and therapy of their loved one outside the clinic.

Review

"... Serves as a well-needed resource for speech-language pathologists who are including SOs in therapy sessions. It provides specific activities in clear and simple language. It encourages the couple to actively reflect on and evaluate the conversation."
—Riva Sorin-Peters, PhD, Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (2010)

• Activity 1 3-Minute Conversation
• Activity 2 Reading the Paper: Front Page
• Activity 3 Dining Out
• Activity 4 Grocery Shopping
• Activity 5 10-Minute Conversation
• Activity 6 Planning a Meal with Guests
• Activity 7 Phone Conversation with Familiar Person
• Activity 8 Making/Changing an Appointment with Speech/Physical/Occupational Therapy
• Activity 9 Car Trip to Visit Family or Friend
• Activity 10 Car Trip to a Hotel
• Activity 11 Camping Trip
• Activity 12 Attending a Party
• Activity 13 Interacting with a Service Worker
• Activity 14 Library
• Activity 15 Planning a Garden
• Activity 16 Hiring a Caregiver
• Activity 17 Requesting a Change in Medication
• Activity 18 Going to a Movie
• Activity 19 Email
• Activity 20 Meeting a Stranger
• Activity 21 Scrapbooking
• Activity 22 Planning a Picnic
• Activity 23 Sports Event
• Activity 24 Public Transportation
• Activity 25 Who Did You Used to Be?
• Activity 26 Post Office