Spontaneous recovery of writing after stroke: A case study of the first 100 days

Richard Pickard, Jan McAllister, Simon M. C. Horton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: This paper describes a corpus of spontaneous text produced by the first author, an experienced writer, in the 100 days following a CVA. The corpus begins with highly disordered texts replete with neologistic jargon written soon after onset and continues during the period of recovery. By the end of the corpus, language had returned to pre-morbid levels. Aims: The main aim of the paper is to present a detailed longitudinal investigation of the process of recovery from jargon agraphia. In addition, patterns of preservation and deficit will be highlighted, and inferences about the origins of the neologisms, perseverations, and paragrammatisms in the samples will be attempted, although the latter must necessarily be speculative, given the limitations associated with spontaneous writing samples. Main Contribution: The case is relatively unusual compared with other cases in the literature in that it focuses on the spontaneous writing of an individual who wrote extensively in his professional and private life prior to his illness, and who made a complete recovery from the linguistic consequences of the CVA. Conclusions: Early texts in the corpus were disordered at various linguistic levels, but features of typography and other non-alphabetic characteristics were preserved. Findings largely parallel those reported in other case studies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1223-1241
Number of pages19
JournalAphasiology
Volume24
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

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