Communication after traumatic brain injury in adolescence

A single subject comparative study of two methods for analysis

Authors

  • Åsa Fyrberg Sahlgrenska University Hospital | University of Gothenburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v4i2.157

Keywords:

adolescents, functional communication, methods for analyses, traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Communication in everyday life can be severely affected in adolescence after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Abilities associated with vocal verbal response, gesture, gaze, facial expression and posture are frequently impaired. While much effort is often invested in clinical assessments, altered communicative functions in a real life setting are explored to a much lesser extent. In this case study, we discuss the usability of a triangulation of methods for analysis, involving a 16-year-old adolescent with TBI. Communication Management (CM) is explored, based on self-evaluation by the participant in video recordings of dyadic and triadic conversations. Ratings created independently by the subject and his parents on The Communicative Effectiveness Index (CETI) are analysed. A comparison is made with a selection of clinical test results on cognition, speech and language. We discuss how the methods can be applied to analyse communicative functions that are not readily detected in a clinical environment.

Author Biography

  • Åsa Fyrberg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital | University of Gothenburg

    Åsa Fyrberg is a speech pathologist, experienced in clinical work with children and adolescents with acquired brain injuries (ABI). She is particularly interested in the rehabilitation process of communicative functions after brain injuries. This paper is a part of a thesis in cognitive science, with the overall aim to develop methods for assessment and rehabilitation of everyday communication skills in youth with ABI. A central issue is the impact of communicative participation for understanding and designing treatment of communication disorders related to ABI.

References

Agnihotri, S., Lynn Keightley, M., Colantonio, A., Cameron, D. and Polatajko, H. (2010). Community integration interventions for youth with acquired brain injuries: A review. Dev Neurorehabil 13 (5): 369–382. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17518423.2010.499409

Ahlsén, E. (2006). Introduction to Neurolinguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Ahlsén, E. and Schwarz, A. (2010). A comparative overview between gestures in face-to-face interaction produced by typical persons and persons with aphasia. Paper presented at the 13th Meeting of the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association (ICPLA). Oslo.

Allwood, Ahlsén, E., Lund, J. and Sundqvist, J. (2007). Multimodality in own communication management. In J. Tolvanen and P. Juel Henrichsen (eds) Current Trends in Research on Spoken Language in the Nordic Countries, 10-19. Oulu: Oulu University Press.

Allwood, J. (2002). Bodily communication dimensions of expression and content. In B. Granström, D. House and I. Karlsson (eds) Multimodality in Language and Speech Systems, 7–26. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2367-1_2

Allwood, J., Nivre, J. and Ahlsén, E. (1990). Speech management – on the non-written life of speech. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 13 (1): 3–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S033 2586500002092

Anderson, V., Catroppa, C., Morse, S., Haritou, F. and Rosenfeld, J. (2000). Recovery of intellectual ability following traumatic brain injury in childhood: Impact of injury severity and age at injury. Pediatr Neurosurg 32 (6): 282–290. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000028956

Baxter, L. A. and Goldsmith, D. (1990) Cultural terms for communication events among some American high school adolescents. Western Journal of Speech Communication 54 (3): 377–394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10570319009374348

Bazeley, P. (2007). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. London: SAGE.

Bishop, D. V. M. (2009). TROG-2, Test for Reception of Grammar, Version 2 – Manual. Swedish Version. Stockholm: Pearson Assessment.

Brink, J. D., Garrett, A. L., Hale, W. R., Woo-Sam, J. and Nickel, V. L. (1970). Recovery of motor and intellectual function in children sustaining severe head injuries. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 12 (5): 565–571. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1970.tb01963.x

Brooks, N., McKinlay, W., Symington, C., Beattie, A. and Campsie, L. (1987). Return to work within the first seven years of severe head injury. Brain Injury Jul-Sep; 1 (1): 5–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02699058709034439

Brookshire, B. L., Chapman, S. B., Song, J. and Levin, H. S. (2000). Cognitive and linguistic correlates of children's discourse after closed head injury: A three-year follow-up. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 6 (07): 741–751. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1017/S1355617700677019

Chamberlain, D. J. (2006) The experience of surviving traumatic brain injury. Journal of Advanced Nursing 54 (4): 407–417. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03840.x

Chapman, S. B. (1997). Cognitive-communication abilities in children with closed head injury. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology 6 (2): 50–58.

Chapman, S. B., Gamino, J. F., Cook, L. G., Hanten, G., Li, X. and Levin, H. S. (2006). Impaired discourse gist and working memory in children after brain injury. Brain and Language 97 (2): 178–188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2005.10.002

Chapman, S. B., Levin, H. S., Wanek, A., Weyrauch, J. and Kufera, J. (1998). Discourse after Closed Head Injury in Young Children. Brain and Language 61 (3): 420–449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/brln.1997.1885

Clark, L. W. (1994). Communication disorders: what to look for, and when to refer. Geriatrics 49 (6): 51–55.

Colantonio, A., Dawson, D. R. and McLellan, B. A. (1998). Head injury in young adults: long-term outcome. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 79 (5): 550–558. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0003-9993(98)90072-7

Dennis, M., Purvis, K., Barnes, M. A., Wilkinson, M. and Winner, E. (2001). Understanding of literal truth, ironic criticism, and deceptive praise following childhood head injury. Brain and Language 78 (1): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/brln.2000.2431

Douglas, J. M. (2010). Using the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire to measure perceived social communication ability in adolescents with traumatic brain injury. Brain Impairment 11 (2): 171–182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1375/brim.11.2.171

Duffy, R. J., Duffy, J. R. and Mercaitis, P. A. (1984). Comparison of the performances of a fluent and a nonfluent aphasic on a pantomimic referential task. Brain and Language 21 (2): 260–273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(84)90051-8

Dunn, L. M. and Dunn, L. M. (1997). PPVT-III, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (3rd edn). Circel Pines, MI: American Guidance Service Inc.

Emanuelson, I. (1999). Epidemiology and management of traumatic brain injury in children. Department of Child Neurology Hospital for children and Adolescents, University of Helsinki, Finland and Regional Rehabilitation Centre for Children and Adolescents Sahlgrens’s University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden. Academic dissertation.

Farmer, J. E. and Clippard, D. S. (1996). Assessing children with traumatic brain injury during rehabilitation: Promoting school and community reentry. Journal of Learning Disabilities 29 (5): 532–548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002221949602900508

Fragala, M. A., Haley, S. M., Dumas, H. M. and Rabin, J. P. (2002). Classifying mobility recovery in children and youth with brain injury during hospital-based rehabilitation. Brain Injury 16 (2): 149–160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699050110103328

Fyrberg, Å., Marchioni, M. and Emanuelson, I. (2007). Severe acquired brain injury: Rehabilitation of communicative skills in children and adolescents. International Journal of Rehabilitative Research 30 (2): 153–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MRR.0b013e32813a2ee7

Holland, A., Frattali, C. and Fromm, D. (1999). Communication Activities of Daily Living (2nd edn). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Hugdahl, K. and Asbjørnsen, A. (1994). Dikotisk lyssning med CV-stavelser: Manual Hägersten: Psykologiförlaget.

Hux, K., Bush, E., Zickefoose, S., Holmberg, M., Henderson, A. and Simanek, G. (2010). Exploring the study skills and accommodations used by college student survivors of traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury 24 (1): 13–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/026990509 03446823

Jacobson, C. (2001, 2009). Läskedjor: manual. Stockholm: Hogrefe Psykologiförlaget

Kaplan, E., Goodglass, H. and Weintraub, S. (1983). BNT, Boston Naming Test. Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Febiger.

Kertesz, A. (1982). Western Aphasia Battery Test Manual: New York: Grune & Stratton.

LaPointe, L. L., Murdoch, B. E. and Stierwalt, J. A. G. (2010). Brain-based Communication Disorders. San Diego, CA: Plural Pub.

Larkins, B. (2010). Clinical influences. Seminars in Speech and Language 31 (3): 187–196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0030-1257535

Larkins, B., Worrall, L. E. and Hickson, L. M. H. (1999). Everyday communication activities of individuals with traumatic brain injury living in New Zealand. Asia Pacific Journal of Speech Language and Hearing 4 (3): 183–191.

Larkins, B. M., Worrall, L. E. and Hickson, L. M. (2004). Stakeholder opinion of functional communication activities following traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury 18 (7): 691–706. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699050310001617389

Lomas, J., Pickard, L., Bester, S., Elbard, H., Finlayson, A. and Zoghaib, C. (1989). The communicative effectiveness index: Development and psychometric evaluation of a functional communication measure for adult aphasia. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 54 (1): 113–124.

McDonald, S. (2000). Editorial: Putting communication disorders in context after traumatic brain injury. Aphasiology 14 (4): 339–347. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026870300401397

Morgan, A. T., Mageandran, S. D. and Mei, C. (2010). Incidence and clinical presentation of dysarthria and dysphagia in the acute setting following paediatric traumatic brain injury. Child: Care, Health and Development 36 (1): 44–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ j.1365-2214.2009.00961.x

Morrel-Samuels, P. and Krauss, R. M. (1992). Word familiarity predicts temporal asynchrony of hand gestures and speech. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 18 (3): 615–622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.18.3.615

Ownsworth, T., Fleming, J., Strong, J., Radel, M., Chan, W. and Clare, L. (2007). Awareness typologies, long-term emotional adjustment and psychosocial outcomes following acquired brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation 17 (2): 129–150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09602010600615506

Paul, D., Frattali, C., Holland, A., Thompson, C., Caperton, C., Slater, S. and Rockville, M. (2005). Quality of Communication Life Scale. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Pedersen, P. M. l., Vinter, K. and Olsen, T. S. J. (2001). The Communicative Effectiveness Index: Psychometric properties of a Danish adaptation. Aphasiology 15 (8): 787–802. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02687040143000195

Peirce, C. S. (1894). What Is a Sign? In C. J. W. Kloesel and N. Houser (eds) The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings. Vol. 2, 1893–1913, 4–10. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Penn, C., Milner, K. and Fridjhon, P. (1992). The Communicative Effectiveness Index: Its use with South African stroke patients. South African Journal of Communication Disorders 39: 74–82.

Perkins, M. R. (2005). Pragmatic ability and disability as emergent phenomena. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 19 (5): 367–377. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699200400027155

Rivara, F. P., Koepsell, T. D., Wang, J., Temkin, N., Dorsch, A., Vavilala, M. S., Durbin, D. and Jaffe, K. M. (2011). Disability 3, 12, and 24 months after traumatic brain injury among children and adolescents. Pediatrics 128 (5): e1129–e1138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds. 2011-0840

Roscigno, C. I., Swanson, K. M., Vavilala, M. S. and Solchany, J. (2011). Children's longing for everydayness: Life following traumatic brain injury in the USA. Brain Injury 25 (9): 882–894. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02699052.2011.581638

Saldert, C. (2006). Inference and conversational interaction: Pragmatic language disturbances related to stroke. Gothenburg Monographs in Linguistics Göteborg: Department of Linguistics, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden.

Sarno, Buonaguro, A. and Levita, E. (1986). Characteristics of verbal impairment in closed head injured patients. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 67 (6): 400–405.

Savage, R. C., DePompei, R., Tyler, J. and Lash, M. (2005). Paediatric traumatic brain injury: A review of pertinent issues. Pediatric Rehabilitation 8 (2): 92–103.

Stancin, T., Drotar, D., Taylor, H. G., Yeates, K. O., Wade, S. L. and Minich, N. M. (2002). Health-related quality of life of children and adolescents after traumatic brain injury. Pediatrics 109 (2): E34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.109.2.e34

Turkstra, L. S. (2005). Looking while listening and speaking: Eye-to-face gaze in adolescents with and without traumatic brain injury. Journal oj Speech, Language and Hearing Research 48 (6): 1429–1441. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2005/099)

Turkstra, L. S., Coelho, C. and Ylvisaker, M. (2005). The use of standardized tests for individuals with cognitive-communication disorders. Seminars in Speech and Language 26 (4): 215–222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-2005-922101

Turkstra, L. S., McDonald, S. and DePompei, R. (2001). Social information processing in adolescents: Data from normally developing adolescents and preliminary data from their peers with traumatic brain injury. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 16 (5): 469–483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00001199-200110000-00006

Wahlström Rodling, M., Olivecrona, M., Koskinen, L.-O. D., Rydenhag, B. and Naredi, S. (2005). Severe traumatic brain injury in pediatric patients: Treatment and outcome using an intracranial pressure targeted therapy – the Lund concept. Intensive Care Medicine 31: 832–839. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00134-005-2632-2

Wechsler, D. (2003). WAIS-III, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Third Edition. Swedish Version. Stockholm: Pearson Assessment.

World Health Organization (WHO) (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Wiseman-Hakes, C., Stewart, M. L., Wasserman, R. and Schuller, R. (1998). Peer group training of pragmatic skills in adolescents with acquired brain injury. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 13 (6): 23–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00001199-199812000-00005

Ylvisaker, M. (1993). Communication outcome in children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation 3 (4): 367–387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 09602019308401447

Ylvisaker, M. (1998). Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation: Children and Adolescents (2nd edn). Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Ylvisaker, M. and Feeney, T. (2007). Pediatric brain injury: Social, behavioral, and communication disability. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America 18 (1): 133–144, vii. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmr.2006.11.007

Ylvisaker, M., Hanks, R. and Johnson-Greene, D. (2002). Perspectives on rehabilitation of individuals with cognitive impairment after brain injury: Rationale for reconsideration of theoretical paradigms. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 17 (3): 191–209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00001199-200206000-00002

Published

2013-09-17

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Fyrberg, Åsa. (2013). Communication after traumatic brain injury in adolescence: A single subject comparative study of two methods for analysis. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 4(2), 157-183. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v4i2.157

Most read articles by the same author(s)