Neurogenic Communication Disorders: Life Stories and the Narrative Self

Book excerpt: There is currently considerable focus on psychosocial issues for persons with aphasia and their significant others. However, there has been little unifying work that brings diverse interdisciplinary perspectives together to understand the impact of aphasia and other neurogenic communication disorders on the social construction and mediation of self or identity. In this book, the authors explore this idea of social construction of self as it relates to the human need to create, share, and modify life stories, particularly when confronting major life changes. Their premise is that impaired communication can have a profound 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. The nature and extent of impact varies, as seen in the book’s in-depth examination of narrative self for persons living with aphasia, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia, as well as those aging without impairment. The authors 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. The text moves from theory to qualitative analyses of living with neurogenic disorders to implications for clinical interventions for individual clients and their significant others.