ASHA Learning Pass

This course explores Innovating & Situating Practice in Rich Environments (InSPiRE), a novel approach to aphasia intervention. InSPiRE works with clinicians to recognize discourse patterns typical of restricted and rich environments and to apply discourse practices strategically, both to enrich clinical activities and to promote improved communication between individuals with aphasia and their everyday communication partners. The speakers will discuss interactional research and practical strategies for topic management, contingent responses, shaping conversational narratives, creative use of collaborative referencing techniques, and other methods for creating rich communicative environments.

Content disclosure: This course focuses on the InSPiRE approach to aphasia intervention.

This course is part of the SIGnature Series, a collection of courses developed by volunteers from ASHA’s Special Interest Groups, who share practical, evidence-based suggestions and solutions based on their in-depth knowledge, clinical experiences, and passion for their specialty areas. This course was developed by SIG 2: Neurogenic Communication Disorders.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Identify common discourse patterns that control and limit interaction
• Identify dynamic and flexible discourse patterns typical of rich communicative environments
• Describe several ways to design clinical interventions around rich communicative environments

Related Courses

View all the SIGnature Series courses, available through the ASHA Learning Pass subscription or for a la carte purchase.

This course is part of Key Courses on Aphasia Intervention.

Presenter Information

Brent E. Archer, PhD, CCC-SLP, LSVT Certified, worked as a speech-language pathologist in South Africa between 2006 and 2011. In 2016, he obtained his PhD from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. After graduating, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in Communication Disorders and Sciences at Bowling Green State University. Archer’s research interests include aphasiology and bilingualism in clinical populations. In 2020, Archer was chosen as a Tavistock Aphasia Distinguished Scholar.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from Bowling Green State University
• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA member

Jamie Azios, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor at Lamar University. She has expertise using qualitative research methodologies to examine perspectives and interactions of adults with neurogenic communication disorders in various social contexts. Research interests include co-constructed conversation in aphasia and the impact of communicative environments on social participation and inclusion. She has published articles related to client-centeredness, the interactional environments of long-term care facilities, and therapist and client behaviors during social approaches to aphasia intervention. She is also a recent Tavistock Trust for Aphasia Distinguished Scholar.

Financial Disclosures:

• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA member
• ASHA SIG 2 affiliate

Suma Devanga, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at Western Michigan University. With the aim of bridging the clinical-functional gap in managing acquired neurogenic communication disorders, Devanga’s research is focused on studying intervention approaches that better help individuals with aphasia and other neurogenic communication disorders to communicate in everyday lives. Devanga’s research interests also include multilingual and multicultural factors in clinical interventions.

Financial Disclosures:

• Employed by Western Michigan University
• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA member
• ASHA SIG 2 affiliate

Julie A. Hengst, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Her research draws on sociocultural theories and ethnographic methods to detail everyday communication practices among individuals with communication disorders and their community partners. She focuses particularly on the sudden disruptions in communication caused by acquired brain injuries (e.g., strokes, trauma) and the ongoing reorganization of functional communication systems. Her research has appeared in journals such as Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research; Aphasiology; International Journal of Communication and Language Disorders; Text & Talk; World Englishes; Nature Neuroscience; and Brain & Language. She co-edited with Paul Prior Exploring Semiotic Remediation as Discourse Practice. Her recent book, Understanding Everyday Communicative Interactions, introduces situated discourse analysis (SDA), offering it as a framework to guide researchers and clinicians in studying communicative interactions of those with communicative disorders in everyday and clinical settings.

Financial Disclosures:

• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation
• Author royalties for Understanding Everyday Communicative Interactions

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Marion C. Leaman, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas. Prior to her current position, Leaman was a speech-language pathologist for 27 years, specializing in adult neurogenic rehabilitation with a focus on aphasia. Her clinical experience extends across the entire continuum of care. Her research and teaching interests are informed by what her clients with aphasia and their families have taught her over the course of her career about their desire for aphasia therapy to address their everyday communication needs. Accordingly, Leaman’s research aims to develop treatment with generalization to everyday conversation by integrating theoretical frameworks of interaction and conversation with aphasia intervention. Her current primary area of research is investigation of how clinicians can make intentional, therapeutic use of everyday communicative interactions as a skilled intervention mechanism during unstructured conversation with people with aphasia. In addition, her research focuses on development of needed reliable and stable outcome measures of language skill in conversation, and on understanding differences between elicited monologues used in assessments and the everyday conversation skills needed by people with aphasia.

Financial Disclosures:

• Employed by the University of Kansas Medical Center
• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• Nonfinancial research relationship with the other members of the InSPiRE research team
• ASHA member
• ASHA SIG 2 affiliate

Paul Prior, PhD, is a Professor of English at the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and past co-editor of Research in the Teaching of English. His research exploring literate activity and semiotic practices has appeared in Writing/Disciplinarity: A Sociohistoric Account of Literate Activity in the Academy; Exploring Semiotic Remediation as Discourse Practice (co-edited with Julie Hengst); and a number of single- and co-authored articles and chapters..

Financial Disclosures:

• Employee of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Gloria Streit Olness, PhD, CCC-SLP, is engaged in basic, clinical, and organizational research; teaching; and advocacy for and with people whose lives have been impacted by aphasia.

Financial Disclosures:

• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA member
• ASHA SIG 2 affiliate

Jennifer Thompson Tetnowski, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She has been a practicing speech-language pathologist for over 20 years, treating aphasia, dementia, and traumatic brain injury in a variety of settings that include outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation, acute care, nursing facilities, home health, and a university-based clinic. Her research has focused on the use of Conversation Analysis to demonstrate group cohesiveness as well as treatment efficacy. She has published more than 13 manuscripts and presented more than 35 times on these topics.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
• Complimentary ASHA Learning Pass subscription from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA member
• ASHA SIG 2 affiliate

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by the end date below.

Program History and CE Information

Content origination date: October 2020
End date: October 1, 2025

This course is offered for 0.15 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).