Neurogenic Communication Disorders: Life Stories and the Narrative Self

While there is currently considerable focus on psychosocial issues for persons with aphasia and their significant others, there has been little unifying work that attempts to bring diverse interdisciplinary perspectives together to understand the impact of aphasia on the social construction and mediation of self or identity. In this book, the authors explore the ideas of social construction of self and/or identity as they apply to treatments for aphasia, interventions for significant others, and other neurological disorders that affect adults — their premise being that different disorders have a profoundly different impact on one s perception of self and one’s ability to negotiate the social reconstruction of self in the context of a neurological disorder. They present theoretical grounding for using the concepts of self and the idea of a social and cultural tool kit that enables clients to interact with others and to define themselves in the context of those around them.