Cognitive communication difficulty

COGNITIVE COMMUNICATION DEFICIT

What is cognitive communication deficit?

Cognitive-communication deficit refers to difficulties with communication that have an underlying cause in a cognitive deficit more than a language or speech deficit.

What are some signs or symptoms of cognitive communication deficit?

  • Reduced attention to task
  • Impaired memory
  • Reduced insight and judgement
  • Poor reasoning and problem solving skills
  • Reduced planning and organization skills
  • Trouble communicating in a socially acceptable manner
  • What causes cognitive communication deficit?

Cognitive communication deficit is usually caused by damage to the right side of the brain, especially in the frontal lobe.  Some causes include stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain tumor and progessive neurological disorders.

How can we help?

We will use both formal and informal screening tools to understand more about our client’s deficits.  We will then prepare a personalized treatment plan to help meet our client’s functional needs. This includes:

  • Using specific tasks to improve functions that has been affected, such as memory and problem solving.
  • Teaching strategies on how to compensate for impaired functions, e.g. using a detailed plan or checklist
  • Teaching family members strategies to communicate better with their loved ones with cognitive communication deficit

How effective are speech-language pathology treatments for dysarthria?

ASHA produced a treatment efficacy summary on cognitive commmunication [http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/public/TESCognitiveCommunicationDisordersfromRightHemisphereBrainDamage.pdf] that describes evidence about how well treatment works.

Communication is extremely important for quality of life. Patients with severe communication difficulties might feel frustrated or depressed.  We believe that early intervention with the right therapy and good family support is crucial to our client’s recovery.