Treatment of Written Discourse after Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescents

1. Treatment of Written Discourse after Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescents Advisor: Dr. Brenda Wilson Cassie Fuller Eastern Illinois University

2. Introduction • Participants with traumatic brain injury (TBI) have difficulty writing personal and picture narratives (Smith, Huerman, Wilson, & Proctor, 2003). • Areas of written discourse that are affected are productivity, efficiency, global coherence, and local coherence (Wilson & Proctor, 2000). • Deficits executive functioning and working memory abilities are linked to disordered writing (Wilson & Proctor, 2000).

3. Introduction • Youse and Coelho (2009) developed a treatment for oral discourse after TBI focusing on increasing attention through completion of Attention Process Training II (APT) and Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR). However, no significant improvements were made in any participants. • Delano (2007) developed a treatment for written discourse in three adolescents with Asperger syndrome. This therapy approach focused on a self-regulated strategy of planning, writing, revising, editing, monitoring, and number of words. All participants increased functional writing skills and words per essay. Only two of the three participants were able to maintain the increase in number of words, and only one participant maintained use of functional writing skills.

4. Research Questions • Do participants with TBI show reduced performance in areas of executive functioning, working memory, and inhibition? • Do written discourse samples of participants with head injury show difficulty with productivity, efficiency, and coherence? • Do individual targets of productivity, efficiency, and coherence improve after treatment?

5. Subject Selection • Two Males • Mean age: 24 years • Normal hearing at 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 3000 Hz, and 4000 Hz at 20dB • Normal to corrected to normal vision • Prior diagnosis of closed head injury (CHI)

6. Participant’s Scores on Preliminary Tests

7. Participant’s Scores on BRIEF-A

8. Methodology • A single subject across baselines research design was used. • Three preliminary tests were administered by the researcher prior to treatment. • Stroop Test: Victoria Version (Stroop) • Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Recognition Memory Subtest (RMT) • The Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Adult Version (BRIEF-A) • Two written narratives were collected from each participant. • The “Cookie Theft” picture of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (Goodglass, Kaplan, & Barresi, 2001) was used to elicit the picture description narrative. • Participants were asked to describe their best summer for the elicitation of the personal narrative. • Discourse samples were measured for productivity, efficiency, global, and local coherence based on a scale developed by Wilson and Proctor (2002). • Participant 1 was treated for 4 weeks • Participant 2 was treated for 6 weeks

9. Picture Stimuli

10. Productivity • Productivity was measured and reported as the total amount of communication units (CU) in a narrative sample. • A CU is an independent clause and all of its modifiers.

11. Efficiency • Efficiency was measured by dividing the number of total words per sample by the number of CUs in the same sample; this calculated the mean length of communication unit (MLCU).

12. Coherence Assessment Scale • Global Coherence • 5 Ideas form integrated story about topic • 4 All CUs are on topic • 3 One CU strays from topic • 2 Two CUs stray from topic • 1 Generally off-topic • Local Coherence • 5 Ideas follow logical progression • 4 Each CU is related to the preceding or following CU • 3 One Cu is not related to the preceding or following CU • 2 Two CUs are not related to the preceding or following CU • 1 More than two CUs are not related to the preceding or following CUs

13. Participant Discourse Baseline Results

14. Treatments for Targets • Productivity • Productivity was treated by cueing participants with an outline to organize thoughts and ideas that were essential to the written samples. An outline was used to reduce cognitive demands. Outlining allowed additional topics to be planned and organized for each writing sample. Specific feedback (e.g., “Lets write more”) was given to participants to encourage expansion of CUs for each topic. • Efficiency • Efficiency was treated with a two-step technique. The first stage was to prompt the participant to read each written sentence aloud and self-judge conciseness (average number of words per CU). In the second step, participants counted the number of words in each sentence. Participants were told to write sentences between 5 and 10 words total. If sentences were trite or verbose, specific feedback was given to adjust sentences into concise statements.

15. Treatments for Targets • Coherence • Global Coherence • Participants self-assessed global coherence by reading each CU verbally and deciding if that CU was related to the topic of the narrative. Specific feedback was given when CUs were determined to be unrelated to the topic. • Local Coherence • Local coherence, the logical progression of ideas, was treated by a self-regulation task similar to the global coherence treatment. Participants compared individual CUs with preceding and subsequent CUs. The clinician provided specific feedback to guide the participant to write a connected sample.

16. Picture Narrative Productivity

17. Efficiency Picture Narrative Personal Narrative

18. Global Coherence Picture Narrative Personal Narrative

19. Local Coherence Picture Narrative Personal Narrative

20. Conclusions • Question 1 • Participant results on the Stroop, RMT, and BRIEF-A suggest that those with TBI show reduced performance in areas of executive functioning, working memory, and inhibition. Participants were below normal limits in at least one area of each test. Participant 2 showed more cognitive deficits and more discourse problems. • Question 2 • Written narrative samples show that participants with head injury show difficulty with productivity, efficiency, and coherence. • Question 3 • After four weeks of treatment, Participant 1 had improved efficiency in both picture and personal narratives. Global and local coherence improved in both picture and personal narratives. • After six weeks of treatment, Participant 2 had increased productivity for picture narratives. Efficiency of picture narratives improved, but personal narrative efficiency was not substantial. Global coherence improved one rating level for personal narratives, but stayed consistent with the baseline measure in picture narratives. Local coherence improved in both picture and personal narratives.

21. Discussion • The findings of this study suggested that participants with TBI showed reduced executive functioning, working memory, and inhibition. • Through written discourse therapy, efficiency, global coherence, and local coherence were improved. • Reading sentences aloud to self-judge conciseness and counting words in each sentence was an effective treatment for efficiency. Global coherence was improved by reading each sentence verbally and self-judging if the sentence was related to the topic. Similar to global coherence, local coherence was improved by comparing individual sentences with preceding and subsequent sentences.

22. Strengths and Limitations Strengths Limitations • Previous research showed a relationship between cognitive skills and written discourse • Strategy-based approach was a logical treatment plan • Single subject design • Number of weeks of treatment • Follow up writing samples • Lack of samples reflecting the written discourse skills of the participants prior to the study

23. Future Research Needs • Future research in the written discourse of adolescents with TBI should investigate the outcomes of therapy after a longer treatment period. • Future research should include continued use of single subject research design to investigate treatment strategies for improvement of written discourse. • Future research should investigate direct therapy implications to improve cognitive skills necessary for written discourse.

24. Acknowledgments • Dr. Wilson • Dr. Richard, Dr. Anthony, & Mrs. Fahy • Parents, friends, and family • Honor’s students • Participants

25. References • Delano, M.E. (2007). Improving written language performance of adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 345-351. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2007.50-60 • Smith, R., Heuerman, M., Wilson, B.M., & Proctor, A. (2003). Analysis of normal discourse patterns. Brain and Cognition, 53, 368-371. • Wilson, B.M., & Proctor, A. (2000). Oral and written discourse in adolescents with closed head injury. Brain and Cognition, 43, 325-443. doi: 10.1006/brcg.1999.1136 • Wilson, B. M., & Proctor, A. (2002). Written discourse of adolescents with closed head injury. Brain Injury, 16(11), 1011-1024. doi:10.1080/02699050210147248 • Youse, K.M., & Coelho, C.A. (2009). Treating underlying attention deficits as a means for improving conversational discourse in individuals with closed head injury: A preliminary study. NeuroRehabilitation, 24, 355-364. doi: 10.3233/NRE-2009-0490