Cognitive Impairment
Cognitive impairment arises from problems in the underlying thought processes involved in communication. For example, difficulties in concentrating, remembering or reasoning can affect a person’s ability to communicate effectively. The treatment of CCI involves identifying the impact of these tasks on everyday activities, and finding ways either to circumvent these deficits or to restore or maximize cognitive function.
Cognitive impairment can be caused by a variety of diagnosis including but not limited to:
- Stroke
- Brain tumor
- Traumatic brain injury
- Primary progressive aphasia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Cerebellar degeneration
- Epilepsy
- Other neurological diseases or conditions
- Aphasia is an acquired language disorder where the ability to use or understand language is impaired. People with this disorder not only have difficulty expressing themselves, but also have trouble understanding spoken language, reading, and writing. Treatment may involve working on one or more of those areas.
- Motor speech deficits are an impaired ability to perform the physical movements of the lips, tongue or larynx (voice box) required for speech. This may include dysarthria or apraxia of speech.
- Cognitive-communication impairment arises from problems in the underlying thought processes involved in communication. For example, difficulties in attention, memory, reasoning or planning can affect a person’s ability to communicate effectively. The treatment of such concerns involves identifying the impact of these tasks on everyday activities, and finding ways either to circumvent these deficits or to restore or maximize cognitive function.
- Voice disorders are