ABSTRACT
Aphasia is an acquired impairment of language, which may or may not be complicated by other deficits. Clinical experience of assessing people with aphasia has demonstrated that there can be a discrepancy between an aphasic individual's linguistic skills, as measured in formal tests, and their behaviour, as observed on wards or at home. Being able to identify that problem-solving skills are impaired in individuals with aphasia is crucial in determining appropriate goal setting. Existing standardised tests designed to assess the linguistic skills of patients with aphasia may be insensitive to deficits in problem-solving either because they were designed to assess linguistic skills in a controlled environment, or because responses are directed to a specific auditory or visual stimulus. The more recent emergence of cognitive neuropsychology has provided a framework for the assessment and interpretation of each person's language processing skills and deficits.
