I'm a speech-language pathologist & co-founder of Tactus. Tactus offers evidence-based apps for aphasia therapy and lots of free resources, articles, and education - like this newsletter. Sign up to get my updates 1-2 times a month.
💬 Beyond Words: 🧠 How executive functioning impacts aphasia recovery & what to do about it
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Hello Reader, As SLPs, we're trained to think about language first when it comes to aphasia: word finding, reading, writing. But what if getting stuck on words, poor strategy use, or lack of carryover isn’t just a language issue? Impaired executive functioning—like poor inhibition, reduced working memory, or inflexible thinking—may play a bigger role than we think. 📊 In fact, research showed 79% of participants with severe aphasia also had executive dysfunction (Olsson et al. 2019). 🤯 That's too significant to ignore.
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| Read the Blog |
Target Problem-Solving Without Words
🧠 Research shows executive function is key to fixing communication breakdowns—but here's the challenge: most treatments rely on language.
👀 Solving Pictured Problems is a treatment in the Virtual Rehab Center that targets attention, problem-solving and visual perception, without speaking or typing.
🎥 Check it out here:
How it works:
- Look at a picture showing a problem from daily life. 👀
- Choose the best picture to solve the problem. ✅🖼️
- There are three levels of difficulty, offering 2-4 pictured choices at each step.
- Difficulty auto-adjusts based on patient performance, making it a great treatment for free home practice.
| Try it for Free! |
💻 Ready to try this treatment (& more)– for FREE?
Sign up for a Virtual Rehab Center trial, and get 3 weeks to explore everything for FREE!
You'll get access to:
🤩 45+ evidence-based treatments (access through the web on any device!)
📁 75+ downloadable PDF handouts- patient & clinical education
🎯 SMART goal-writing assistant
🙌 Auto-generated SOAP notes
📱 Free patient homework
… and more!
👉 Start your 21-day free trial now and check out this growing platform designed by SLPs for SLPs.
Treating aphasia is complex, and executive function challenges add another layer. I hope our newest blog and treatments help you feel more confident assessing and treating both. 💪
Keep up the incredible work!
Megan
P.S. I recently appeared on the Brainstorms podcast talking about aphasia and cognition. Give it a listen here and let me know what you think! 🎧
P.P.S. We're very excited to share some new dysphagia information with you next month as we launch our first interactive swallowing treatment - stay tuned!! 🤩
Megan @ Tactus Therapy
I'm a speech-language pathologist & co-founder of Tactus. Tactus offers evidence-based apps for aphasia therapy and lots of free resources, articles, and education - like this newsletter. Sign up to get my updates 1-2 times a month.
When we hear “aphasia,” we think of language problems—like trouble speaking or understanding. 🗣️👂 But for many people with aphasia, that’s only part of the story. In fact, research shows that 79% of people with severe aphasia also have problems with something called executive functions (Olsson et al., 2019). 🧠 What Are Executive Functions—and Why Do They Matter? Executive functions are thinking skills that help us manage everyday life. These skills allow us to plan, stay focused, identify...
Hello Reader, Last week's new blog tackles one of the trickiest (but most important) areas of cognitive rehab: executive functioning. If you missed it, catch up here: 👉 What SLPs Need to Know About Executive Functioning Executive functioning (EF) is core to recovery, independence, and well-being. It can impact mental health, and may even be affected by everyday behaviors. A brand-new study found that college students who had just used social media performed worse on EF-related cognitive...
When you ask a patient about their goals after a brain injury, the answer is often simple: “I want to go back to work." 💼 And while their communication may be strong, the real challenge often lies beneath the surface, in executive functions. These interconnected cognitive skills are critical, not just for returning to work, but for handling the everyday demands of “adulting." Executive functions are complex—to understand, assess, and treat. That’s why we've broken it all down for you in our...