ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of microlinguistic discourse analysis and macrolinguistic discourse analyses as well as other measures of productivity and content of traumatic brain injury (TBI) discourse. It provides a description of a conceptual and philosophical framework for intervention that incorporates issues such as the importance of describing the speech pathologist's role to the TBI patient and his or her family. TBI is the most common form of brain injury in the modern Western world predominantly affecting young adults, many of whom suffer devastating disabilities without any truncation of life span. The complexity of communication following TBI has resulted in a range of approaches from varied theoretical backgrounds, including neuropsychology, psychosocial outcomes, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, social skills, discourse analysis, and neurophysiology. Severe TBI is not only found in the adult population.
