Disorders of Pragmatics and Discourse in Aphasia

The study of discourse comprehension and pragmatic communication abilities in aphasia plays a crucial role in understanding how to support conversations and communication skills in people with aphasia. In this chapter, evidence-based studies on theoretical models of discourse in both oral and written communication will be reviewed, together with the main factors affecting discourse comprehension in aphasia, such as the nature of the implicatures (non-literal meaning) necessary for understanding a short paragraph and the distinction of the type of information involved (implied information or stated information), the study on coherent speech in people with aphasia and investigations on Theory of Mind in adults with acquired disorders. Future directions in the assessment and treatment of discourse comprehension will be presented, along with some necessary steps in applying theoretical models to support discourse comprehension in people with aphasia.