Rehabilitation of a patient with aphasia due to severe traumatic brain injury Bożena Grochmal-Bach 1 ACDEFG, Maria Pąchalska 2 ABCDEF, Katarzyna Markiewicz 3,4 ABCDEFG, Wiesław Tomaszewski 5 ABDEFG, Henryk Olszewski 1 ABCDEF, Anna Pufal 1 ABCDEF 1 Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland 2 Institute of Psychology, Gdańsk University, Gdańsk, Poland 3 Institute of Psychology, Szczecin University, Szczecin, Poland, 4 Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland 5 Academy of Physiotherapy, Wrocław, Poland Source of support: Departmental sources Summary Background: There has been little attention given to traumatic aphasia in recent neuropsychological literature. It is difficult to justify this relative neglect, however, since speech and language disturbances sub- sequent to traumatic brain injury (TBI) cause serious therapeutic difficulties. Hence the problems encountered by our patient, K.P., who had a severe TBI, are described in the present study. Case Report: K.P. suffered from traumatic aphasia and executive dysfunction. These difficulties made her de- pendent upon others and unable to function by herself in many situations of everyday living. Very little progress was made in ordinary rehabilitation. Improvements in cognitive functioning were observed only after a novel staged program of rehabilitation, based on the microgenetic theory of brain function, had been implemented. Conclusions: After the last phase of rehabilitation K.P. became more independent in social situations. The need for a deeper analysis of the patient’s problems in both a personal and social context is stressed in order to adapt therapeutic procedures heuristically, consistent with a process-based approach. key words: cognitive processes •·traumatic aphasia • aprosody • executive dysfunction Full-text PDF: http://www.medscimonit.com/fulltxt.php?ICID=869603 Word count: 4489 Tables: 2 Figures: 3 References: 32 Author’s address: Maria Pąchalska, Uniwersytet Gdański, Instytut Psychologii, Pomorska 68, 80-343 Gdańsk, Poland, e-mail: m.pachalska@msi.com.pl Authors’ Contribution: A Study Design B Data Collection C Statistical Analysis D Data Interpretation E Manuscript Preparation F Literature Search G Funds Collection Received: 2009.01.02 Accepted: 2009.01.12 Published: 2009.04.01 CS67 Case Study WWW. MEDSCIMONIT.COM © Med Sci Monit, 2009; 15(4): CS67-76 PMID: 19333207 CS Current Contents/Clinical Medicine • IF(2007)=1.607 • Index Medicus/MEDLINE • EMBASE/Excerpta Medica • Chemical Abstracts • Index Copernicus