People with post-stroke aphasia have difficulty recalling words, and may also struggle putting words together into grammatically correct sentences or understanding what is said to them.
However – and perhaps because of – their language impairment, these people often excel at pragmatic communication, using facial expression, tone of voice, and body language, all types of communication to which animals respond more readily than the spoken word. This proficiency makes them ideal candidates for learning and implementing dog-training techniques.
In this video, Sharon Antonucci, PhD, director of the MossRehab Aphasia Center, talks about the Center’s pilot program to teach people with aphasia techniques for training their pets as a means of benefiting the patients themselves.
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