ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors outline a range of therapies that focus primarily on the disabling external and internal barriers encountered by people with aphasia, but which inevitably draw on and contribute to changes in their clients’ communication skills and personal identity. Access therapy is a type of project work that is specifically focused on overcoming the barriers aphasic clients face in accessing information and services. One way of providing aphasic people with support to overcome the societal barriers that they face, while retaining their autonomy, is through advocacy. While rarely developed with the needs of disabled people in mind, technology is increasingly providing means by which aphasic people might overcome some of the barriers that they face, particularly with regard to accessing information and participating actively in society. Technology-based therapy involves a process of jointly identifying the problems to be overcome, problem-solving possible ways around them, seeking out information from other sources and weighing up the available options.
