The game between speaking/writing/reading in the language clinic with aphasia patients

Abstract

Speech therapist care provided to aphasic patients whose symptoms have been manifested in oral and/or written language calls us to reflect upon the nature of the oral-written relationship in aphasias. It is well-known that little has been discussed in terms of this relationship in specific theoretical literature, and this leads to some consequences, one of which is the medical professional’s attention that is focused on the symptom manifested in speech. Actually, it is usually due to a complaint in terms of oral production that the clinical attention is requested. However, if attention is given to what is witnessed in this clinical field, both in diagnostic and therapeutic terms, one can see that speech and writing are crossed by transferable affecting matters: at times, writing supports speaking, and at others, it is speaking that supports writing. We, therefore, seek to investigate how these two language modes play their parts when, in therapeutic terms, an interchangeable game is implemented. This is the path that Fonseca (1995, 2002) proposes when speaking of a clinical action based on the crossing point between speech and writing (of both patient and therapist). Thus, we will discuss the carrying out of this proposal with two aphasic patients. It is considered that, in both cases, the implementation of this process was responsible for the changes, which took place in the patients’ speech/writing. In the first case, changes occur in speech and writing simultaneously. In the second case, however, writing supports changes occurring in speech.