Narrativ förmåga vid afasi : analys av strategier vid gemensamt berättande ; Narrative Ability in Aphasia : Analysis of Strategies in Joint Narration

Aphasia is a linguistic impairment which affects communication and may have an impact on a person’s narrative ability. The purpose of the present study was to analyse the narrative ability in aphasia by narrative interviews with people with aphasia and their partners. The interviews were scrutinised for strategies used in joint narration involving couples where one of the spouses has aphasia. The definition of strategies was methods to cope with communicative difficulties often due to aphasia. Strategies were also studied in an assessment of independent narration. The specific questions were: Which strategies do couples, consisting of one person with aphasia and their partner, use in joint narration? Which strategies does the person with aphasia use in independent narration? Are there any differences in the use of strategies in joint narration compared to independent narration? Five couples were recruited from conversational groups for people with aphasia in the south of Sweden. The couples were asked questions which were meant to encourage joint narration and the interviews were filmed. In addition to the interview, the narrative ability of the individuals with aphasia was assessed with the Swedish aphasia test A-ning. The interviews and the assessments were transcribed according to principles from conversation analysis. The result showed a variation regarding type of strategies occurring in the couples’ narrations and the frequency of these strategies. In joint narration, repetition was the strategy most commonly used by individuals with aphasia, followed by self-initiated self-repair, word search and gestures. The partners also used repetition to a high extent as well as appendor production. The conclusion of this study is that the narrative ability of the persons with aphasia in independent narration to some extent corresponded with their ability in joint narration. However, there were great differences between how the individuals with aphasia and their partners used strategies to cope with difficulties in ...