A patient has aphasia following a stroke. Which of the following interventions is most helpful in their recovery?

• A. Encouraging complete rest without any communication attempts
• B. Using cognitive-behavioral therapy to directly restore language function
• C. Prescribing antipsychotic medication to address language deficits
• D. Speech-language therapy tailored to the patient's specific type of aphasia

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain damage, often due to stroke, affecting speech, comprehension, reading, or writing.
2. Recognize that the primary goal in aphasia recovery is to improve communication abilities through targeted interventions.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions: rest alone does not promote language recovery; cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on thoughts and behaviors, not language restoration; antipsychotic medications do not treat language deficits.
4. Identify that speech-language therapy is specifically designed to address language impairments by tailoring exercises and strategies to the patient's type of aphasia.
5. Conclude that the most helpful intervention is speech-language therapy because it directly targets the language functions affected by the stroke, facilitating recovery.