Date of Graduation

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

Haghighi, Mohammad

Committee Member/Reader

Danley, Jessica

Abstract

Aphasia is primarily a neurological language disorder, which can also affect cognition, attention, and executive functioning skills. In recent years, researcher has taken an interest in understanding quality of life for people with aphasia, specifically communicative confidence, social relationships, and identity. The aim of this study was to determine how communicative confidence and social relationships affect a person’s identity, as well as the importance of therapy groups. We designed and used confidence and independence survey scales pre-aphasia, post-aphasia but before attending aphasia therapy groups, and post-aphasia and after having attended aphasia therapy groups. We also asked clarifying questions based on participants’ answers received from the survey scales. We found that social relationships are the driving force to building communicative confidence and renegotiating identity for a person with aphasia. We also found that therapy groups were impactful for providing our participants with opportunities to communicate freely.

Keywords

aphasia; communicative confidence; quality of life; identity; social relationships; group therapy

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