Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
5-8-2020
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2595-675X
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Department
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Advisor(s)
Jaime B. Lee
Geralyn Timler
Daisy Breneman
Abstract
Aphasia is an acquired, neurogenic language disorder that affects an individual’s ability to express and comprehend language to varying degrees. Individuals with aphasia are restricted in their ability to communicate effectively and as a result, experience decreased quality of life and marked psychosocial consequences. There are numerous interventions that target the language symptoms associated with aphasia. However, social groups, such as book clubs, address both the language and psychological needs of individuals with aphasia. This project explored spontaneous moments of singing that occurred within an aphasia book club. Twenty-four moments of singing were identified and analyzed from six previously recorded group sessions using a qualitative research methodology. All of the moments of singing revealed the competence of the group, or members’ inherent ability to participate and contribute to the group. Two subthemes were identified in that singing also revealed participants’ linguistic competence, their ability to produce language, and their interactional competence, or strong affiliation and group membership. This preliminary study suggests that singing can be used as a tool for people with aphasia to demonstrate their inherent competence and offers support for why music groups for people with aphasia are successful.
Recommended Citation
Barton, Ava L., "Revealing the impact of singing in an aphasia group" (2020). Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current. 34.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors202029/34
