ABSTRACT
Therapists may choose to work within or around the influences, and are hopefully aware that factors have a critical impact upon a person’s response to therapy. The therapist’s attempt to help the client adjust to his or her new reality and long-term prospect of living and coping with disability may be played out against a hazy, perhaps idealised, past and the uncertain reality of the present. Therapist and client may have a very different understanding of what it means to live with aphasia. In a study comparing the beliefs and attitudes regarding language impairment of people with aphasia and therapists, Carole Pound found a striking level of dissonance. Therapists are increasingly aware of the power of dominant discourses and the modernist constructions of illness and cure that have underpinned traditional approaches to rehabilitation. Adaptations include greater use of pictorial material or writing support from the therapist or support worker — for example, in the form of captions for photographs.
