Bio

Ruth Fink,  a speech-language pathologist who specializes in aphasia rehabilitation, retired as clinical director of the MossRehab Aphasia Center in 2016.

After 20 years as a clinical SLP working in rehabilitation hospitals, home care and university settings, she joined the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute as a research associate, where she served as co-PI and project director on federally funded treatment research in the areas of sentence processing, word retrieval disorders, and technology-based treatment for aphasia. She is a co-developer of MossTalk Words®, a computer-assisted treatment for word retrieval disorders.

Ms. Fink’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at regional, national and international conferences.

In 1996, she co-founded the MossRehab Aphasia Center, a unique program for individuals with chronic aphasia, which integrates current research findings into clinical practice, and includes programs that encourage the use of life enhancing activities and computer-assisted treatments to promote recovery. Ms. Fink is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the Academy of Aphasia, and is a founding member of AphasiaAccess. She received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Temple University.

 

Research Interests

• Treatment efficacy and outcomes research in the areas of lexical retrieval, sentence processing and Life Participation Approaches
• Developing and testing new computer technology for improving language skills and communication access.
• Investigating the effects of speech recognition technology in computer-assisted treatments.

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications (2005-2010)

True, G., Bartlett, M.R., Fink, R.B., Linebarger, M.C., & Schwartz, M.F. (2010). Perspectives of persons with aphasia toward SentenceShaper To Go: A qualitative study. Aphasiology, 24 (9), 1032-1050.

Linebarger, M.C., Romania, J.F., Fink, R.B., Bartlett, M.R., & Schwartz, M.F. (2008). Building on residual speech: A portable processing prosthesis for aphasia. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 45 (9), 1401-1414. PMID: 19319763

Fink, R.B., Bartlett, M.R., Lowery, J.S., Linebarger, M.C. & Schwartz, M.F. (2008). Aphasic speech with and without SentenceShaper: Two methods for assessing informativeness. Aphasiology, 22 (7/8), 679-690. PMID: 18846247

Bartlett, M.R., Fink, R.B., Schwartz M.F. & Linebarger, M.C. (2007). Informativeness of messages created on an AAC processing prosthesis. Aphasiology, 21 (5), 475-498. PMID: 18648580

Martin, N., Fink, R.B., Renvall, K. & Laine, M. (2006). Effectiveness of contextual repetition priming treatments for anomia depends on intact access to semantics. Journal of International Neuropsychological Society, 12 (6), 853-866. PMID: 17064448

Fink, R.B., Brecher, A., Sobel, P. & Schwartz, M.F. (2005). Computer-assisted treatment of word retrieval deficits in aphasia. Aphasiology, 19, 943-954.

Selected Publications prior to 2005

Fink, R.B. (2001). Mapping Treatment: An approach to treating sentence level impairments in agrammatism. American Speech-Language Hearing Association Newsletter: Special Interest Division 2, 11(3), 14-23.

Fink, R.B., Brecher, A., Schwartz, M.F., & Robey, R.R. (2002). A computer implemented protocol for treatment of naming disorders: Evaluation of clinician-guided and partially self-guided instruction. Aphasiology, 16, 1061-1086.

Fink, R.B., Brecher, A., Sobel, P., & Schwartz, M.F. (2005). Computer-assisted treatment of word retrieval deficits in aphasia. In Stark, J., Martin, N., Fink, R.B. (Eds.), Aphasia Therapy Workshop: Current approaches to aphasia therapy principles and applications. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Fink, R.B., Lowery, J., Sobel, P. (2002). Clinical Narrative. American Speech-Language Hearing Association Newsletter: Special Interest Division 2, 12(3), 25-29.

Fink, R.B., Martin, N., Schwartz, M.F., Saffran, E.M. & Myers, J.L. (1993). Facilitation of Verb Retrieval Skills in Aphasia: A Comparison of Two Approaches. In M.L. Lemme (ed.), Clinical Aphasiology. Austin, TX: Pro-ed. 21.

Fink, R.B., & Schwartz, M.F. (2000). MossRehab Aphasia Center: A collaborative model for long term rehabilitation. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 7 (2), 32-43.

Fink, R.B., Schwartz, M.F. & Myers, J.L. (1998). Investigations of the sentence query approach to Mapping Therapy. Brain and Language (Academy of Aphasia Conference Proceedings). 65 (1), 203-207.

Fink, R.B., Schwartz, M.F., Rochon, E., Myers, J.L., Socolof, G.S. & Bluestone, R. (1995). Syntax stimulation revisited: An analysis of generalization of treatment effect. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology, 4, 99-104.

Fink, R.B., Schwartz, M.F., Sobel, P.R., Meyers, J.L. (1997). Effects of multilevel training on verb retrieval: Is More Always Better? Brain and Language (Academy of Aphasia Conference Proceedings,) 60 (1), 41-44.

Martin, N., Fink, R.B., Laine, M. (2004). Treatment of word retrieval deficits with contextual priming. Aphasiology, 18, 457-475.

Martin, N., Fink, R.B., Laine, M. & Ayala, J. (2001). Differential effects of contextual priming on word retrieval impairments in aphasia. Brain & Language (Academy of Aphasia Conference Proceedings), 79, 138-141.

Martin, N., Fink, R.B., Laine, M., Ayala, J. (2004). Immediate and short term effects of contextual priming on word retrieval impairments in aphasia. Aphasiology, 18, 867-898.

Rochon, E., Fink, R.B., Schwartz, M.F., Myers, J.L., Sobel, P., Bluestone, R & Socolof, G.S. (1995). Stability of agrammatic production across narrative elicitation tasks. Brain and Language (Academy of Aphasia Conference Proceedings), 47, 420-423.

Saffran, E.M., Schwartz, M.F., Fink, R.B., Myers, J.L., & Martin, N. (1992). Mapping Therapy: An approach to remediating agrammatic sentence comprehension and production. Aphasia Treatment: Current Approaches and Research Opportunities. Bethesda, NIH Publication 93, 3424.

Schwartz, M.F. & Fink, R.B. (1997). Rehabilitation of aphasia. In Feinberg, T. & Farrah, M. (Eds.). Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Schwartz, M.F. & Fink, R.B. (2003). Rehabilitation of aphasia. In Feinberg, T. & Farrah, M. (Eds.). Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology, 2nd edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Schwartz, M.F., Fink, R.B. & Saffran, E.M. (1995). The Modular Treatment of Agrammatism. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 5, 93-127.