Scripts

Script Training

Script training is used frequently in aphasia treatment to improve communication for everyday activities. The clinician and the person with aphasia work together to develop a monologue or dialogue on a personally relevant topic. The person with aphasia then repeatedly practices the phrases and sentences. Practice is done in a variety of ways, such as listening to the script, repeating the target phrases and sentences, reading them aloud either chorally or independently, producing them from memory in response to a cue or question, or performing a combination of these tasks. Script practice may take place during face-to-face therapy or may be accomplished with independent computer-based home practice. The goal of the intensive practice is to make production of the script automatic and effortless. Generalization occurs when the person with aphasia can produce relevant portions of the script accurately and fluently in different real-life situations.

Script Development

Several factors should be considered during script development. First, clinicians must explore the person’s communication needs and interests, prioritizing those that are important and relevant in order to select an appropriate script topic. Second, clinicians must decide on the best type of script (i.e., monologue or dialogue) to embed the phrases and sentences. Third, decisions regarding the complexity of the script must be made. These include choices about the overall length of the script, the number and length of turns if the script is a dialogue, the grammatical complexity of the sentences (e.g., past tense vs. present tense verbs; use of pronouns; number of embedded structures, such as relative clauses and prepositional phrases), and the lexical complexity (defined in terms of word frequency) and cultural relevance of the vocabulary. Some studies have used readability formulas to capture the complexity of the script. In general, scripts should not be too difficult for those with a severe aphasia or too simple for those with a mild aphasia. The use of scripts that are more complex relative to the participant’s typical output may result in better maintenance and generalization, even though they may take longer to learn.

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