Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy (CIAT) has been found to be effective for treating persons with chronic aphasia (Pulvermüller et al., 2001). Modifications to the traditional activities of the CIAT protocol have been found to be successful using Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy Plus (CIAT II of CIAT-plus) (Johnson et al., 2014). Current literature lacks information on dosage parameters and feasibility of the CIAT protocol with caregiver participation in the acute phase of aphasia. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of the CIAT II protocol on language deficits in individuals with acute aphasia. This investigation replicated portions of the Johnson et al. (2014) protocol for CIAT II provided in decreased intensity and dosage for persons with acute aphasia. Two participants ranging between 65 to 67 years-old and <12 months’ post stroke onset were recruited for this investigation. The participants received 1 ½ hours of CIAT II for 5 days/2 weeks. Participant A met criteria after five sessions showing no significant intervention effect. Participant B completed all 10 sessions with all data points falling outside the upper 2 SD band analysis indicating a significant intervention effect. Both participants were found to exhibit improvements on all pre- and posttest scores for the quality of life questionnaire, Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R), and naming of non-target words. Participant A showed the greatest improvement on the WAB-R although no statistically significant treatment effect was identified. The results of this investigation indicate the CIAT II protocol as effective when provided in reduced dosage and intensity for persons with acute aphasia.
Keywords: aphasia, constraint-induced aphasia therapy plus, CIAT II, CIAT, CIAT Plus, acute stroke, language, naming
