The ability to understand spoken language involves mechanisms beyond the linguistic level of comprehension. People with acquired auditory comprehension impairments due to a brain injury have differences in neural speed and timing that impair their ability to comprehend. This single subject research study investigated the effect of Interactive Metronome (IM) on processing and understanding spoken language that varied by length, complexity and/or speech rate, on different modalities that demonstrate comprehension (writing to dictation, repetition, following spoken commands and identifying the written word), and on the speed of response for following commands. In this A-B-A design, 15 sessions of IM training were provided to a 55-year-old male participant, 3 years post CVA with persisting symptoms of mild receptive aphasia and mild anomia, and was evaluated to have concomitant acquired auditory processing disorder. Results found improvement in auditory processing and comprehension in each of the modalities, in understanding spoken words with increased complexity and length, an improvement in temporal processing, and in the ability to comprehend faster rates of speech, as well as in faster abilities to respond to spoken commands. Findings contribute to the research that positive improvements in timing and synchronicity improve auditory processing and comprehension.
