The Aphasia Project1

Generalizability in Research with Cognitively Impaired Individuals

Karyn Moffatt, Leah Findlater, Meghan Allen

University of British ColumbiaVancouver, BC, Canada

2The Aphasia Project

What is aphasia? Acquired language

disorder─ Caused by brain damage:

stroke, tumor, trauma,…

Affects 1.1 million North Americans

Impairment of communication abilities

Relative sparing of other cognitive abilities

Aphasia is a loss of words – not intelligence

3The Aphasia Project

Applications

ESI Planner: Image and

Sound Enhanced

Daily Planner

File Facility: Supports existing

communication strategies

VERA: Uses a visual

language for cooking

instruction

4The Aphasia Project

Generalizability Challenges

General vs. custom solutions

Large variability in skills and needs

vs.

5The Aphasia Project

A Couple of Approaches

Designing in the small; testingin the large

Using detailed assessments of functional abilities

Design

Evaluation

6The Aphasia Project

But what else?