How to Answer: Can you have a patient that has an aphasia and apraxia, and if so, which one would you address first? And how?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Speech Pathology job interview.
9. Can you have a patient that has an aphasia and apraxia, and if so, which one would you address first? And how?
How to Answer
Yes, you can have a patient with both! As a Speech Pathologist, you know that Aphasia and Apraxia are two major neuropsychological syndromes that, in most cases, are caused by injuries in the left cerebral hemisphere. Patients with aphasia experience difficulty in expressing nonverbal ideas and thoughts as words and grammatically correct sentences. Apraxia is characterized by loss of the ability to carry out learned purposeful movements despite having the physical ability to do so. Tell the interviewer your experience working with both types of patients and the treatment that you provided.
Written by Heather Douglass
Entry Level
"During my internship, I was fortunate enough to get to work with a stroke patient that was experiencing both aphasia and apraxia. My lead therapist utilized new research to conduct a combined treatment for both conditions and it worked wonderfully with the patient. The CAAST treatment was new to my lead and watching her handle a new therapy method was invaluable to my training."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"As a Therapist, I would address Aphasia first. Aphasia, being the inability to understand grammatical sentences and reading or writing words or sentences, working on this would at the same time work on the patients Apraxia. While working on understanding sentences, we would be able to focus on the desired speech sound of each word."
Written by Heather Douglass
Experienced
"I have worked with patients that have had both aphasia and apraxia that have had traumatic brain injuries. When I have worked in the past with these patients, I have used the approach of working on the understanding of the language and treating the aphasia first. I have found in studying research on the topic, beginning with the aphasia with techniques like constraint-induced therapy and conversational coaching help work on the apraxia at the same time with great results."
Written by Ryan Brunner