Web-Based Treatment for Aphasia

This prospective randomized clinical trial implements an innovative broadband web-based treatment program for individuals with chronic aphasia, and evaluates its efficacy. The treatment, Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia (ORLA), has been shown to be efficacious when provided by a speech-language pathologist. The treatment has been computerized and the current version of ORLA uses state-of-the-art virtual therapist technology that allows the individual with aphasia to read aloud, and ultimately speak, sentences at the same time as the words are produced by a perceptive, life-like, animated computer agent, using visible speech. In this clinical trial, ORLA treatment is delivered via the internet and outcomes are compared to a placebo computer treatment.