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Auditory And Visual Cues For Topic Maintenance With Persons Who Exhibit Dementia Of Alzheimer’S Type, Amy Wilson Teten, Paul A. Dagenais, Mary J. Friehe

Special Education and Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This study compared the effectiveness of auditory and visual redirections in facilitating topic coherence for persons with Dementia of Alzheimer’s Type (DAT). Five persons with moderate stage DAT engaged in conversation with the first author. Three topics related to activities of daily living, recreational activities, food, and grooming, were broached. Each topic was presented three times to each participant: once as a baseline condition, once with auditory redirection to topic, and once with visual redirection to topic. Transcripts of the interactions were scored for overall coherence. Condition was a significant factor in that the DAT participants exhibited better topic maintenance …