Sign language acquisition by a global aphasic.

A left hemisphere-damaged, hemiplegic, and globally aphasic man was taught receptive and expressive language using Total Communication--a combination of standardized sign language and speech. After an initial period during which words (in sign) were learned slowly and with frequent lapses of memory, the subject's learning ability and memory improved dramatically. He has learned to communicate using increasingly complex, syntactically correct sentences, self-correcting his mistakes. He reads and understands simple sentences. These results suggest that it may be possible to restore communicative function even in those stroke victims who remain orally aphasic if a suitable means of expression can be found.