Article

This study examined the efficacy of a treatment, Oral Reading for
Language in Aphasia (ORLA), delivered by computer to individuals with chronic
nonfluent aphasia and compared its efficacy with the same treatment delivered by
a speech-language pathologist (SLP). METHOD: With ORLA,
the person with aphasia
systematically and repeatedly reads aloud sentences, first in unison and then
independently. Following a no-treatment period, 25 individuals with chronic
nonfluent aphasia were randomly assigned to receive 24 sessions of ORLA, 1-3
times per week, either by computer or by the SLP. RESULTS: For participants
receiving computer ORLA, change made on the Western Aphasia Battery Aphasia
Quotient (WAB-AQ) during the treatment phase was larger than the change made
during the no-treatment phase. Positive effect sizes for change during treatment
compared with change during the no-treatment phase were obtained and were
benchmarked as medium or large for the WAB-AQ and discourse measures. There was
no significant difference between outcomes for computer ORLA compared with SLP-ORLA. CONCLUSION: Low-intensity ORLA, delivered by computer to individuals
with chronic nonfluent aphasia, is efficacious and may be equivalent to ORLA
delivered by an SLP.

Langue : ANGLAIS