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Ciat Stroke Therapy

A stroke that affects the left side of the brain has the potential to cause aphasia. Aphasia is a language disorder; it affects the stroke-victim's ability to communicate effectively. Symptoms of aphasia include trouble forming or finding words, trouble understanding words, and trouble speaking words. Possible treatment for stroke-victims is Constraint-Induced Therapy for Aphasia, or CIAT.

  1. Constraint-Induced Therapy for Aphasia

    • Constraint-Induced Therapy for Aphasia is an intensive treatment regimen in which the doctor works with the stroke-victim to help the victim improve or regain his or her speaking and communication skills. The therapy works by restraining the stroke-victim from being able to communicate non-verbally (such as with hand gestures) or by writing. Jennifer Brown, a certified clinical speech therapist, describes the treatment as "speech treatment with 'half your brain tied behind your back'-the good half."

      This treatment generally lasts three and a half hours a day for five days. It generally takes at least two weeks to complete the program. During the program, the stroke-victim's therapist will work with the stroke-victim to improve his or her communication skills. The treatment is hard and frustrating: that patient is not allowed to write, gesture, draw, or even quit on the message he or she is trying to deliver. Instead, the stroke-victim must verbalize the message by speaking it out loud. This is difficult for a patient with aphasia: the language side of his or her brain has been damaged. The un-damaged side is responsible for the non-verbal forms of communication (writing, gesturing and drawing). CIAT therapy shackles the good side of the stroke-victim's brain and forces the patient to use and exercise the damaged side of the brain to verbalize messages.

      Success with this treatment has been medically shown: many case studies show improvement in communication skills with patients being able to speak entire paragraphs without many pauses. Whether or not this will become more prominent is difficult to say; the treatment is still relatively new. However, if you or a loved one has suffered a stroke and is experiencing aphasia, you should bring this treatment option up and discuss it with your doctor.

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