Development of A mobile equipment based software for improving naming skills in aphasia patients

The aims of this study are, development of a mobile equipment based software, to improve naming skills of Turkish patients with aphasia including cueing hierarchy, demonstrating the improvement of naming skills using the application in their therapy, investigation of the impact of speech and language therapist (SLT) intervention on naming therapy using mobile equipment compatible application developed, and evaluation of the satisfaction of aphasic individuals who use the application in their therapies. The study was conducted in Speech and Language Therapy Unit at Hacettepe University Hospital. Seven aphasic individuals were included in the study. Name agreement, image agreement and picture-name agreement evaluations were made for the pictures to be used in the application. Aphasia Language Assessment Test (ADD), Turkish-Picture Naming Test (T-RAT) were applied to the participants, and the words which are used in application were questioned. Questioning of application words and ADD test were repeated twice; before and after the therapy, and the T-RAT was repeated three times; before therapy, after therapy and at the end of the 6th week of therapy. The assessment results of the participants were examined individually and the percentages were used to evaluate the improvement after therapy. Regarding all the results, different levels of improvement were observed in the naming skills of the participants with different aphasia types, duration and severity when the cueing hierarchy methods was presented in a Mobile Equipment Based Software. In addition, improvement has been observed in the two therapy metod in which SLT participation has changed and it was thought that participants' independent drilling could provide an effective contribution to the therapy process. Key words: aphasia, application, tablet, technology, naming, speech and language h therapy