CSD 453 - set 1 (CC & MCII)

Define Cognitive Communication Impairment (CCI)

difficulty with any aspect of communication that is affected by disruption of cognition

Examples of cognitive processes

* Attention


* Memory
* Organization
* Problem solving/reasoning
* executive function

CCI Challenge - Attention. What is the impairment?

reduced attention space, reduced divided attention

CCI Challenge - Attention. What is the impact on communication?

* difficulty with reading comprehension
* understanding/participating in conversation
* difficulty with switching topics
* difficulty interpreting multimodal communication

CCI Challenge - Memory. What is the impairment?

difficulty creating new memories and recall

CCI Challenge - Memory. What is the impact on communication?

* difficulty with discourse and effective communication.


* Anomia, circumlocution, increased response time

CCI Challenge - Executive Functioning. What is the impairment?

* difficulty with creative thinking/cognitive flexibility
* initiation
* problem solving
* decision making
* organizing

CCI Challenge - Executive Functioning. What is the impact on communication?

* difficulty with abstract concepts
* starting conversations, asking for help, reduced sentence length
* difficulty with communication repair
* difficulty with making socially appropriate choices during communication
* story grammar

Medical Diagnosis/Definition of Stroke/CVA

Medical Diagnosis/Definition of TBI

an injury to the brain caused by a blow or jolt, or a penetrating head injury that disrupts normal function of the brain

Medical Diagnosis/Definition of ABI

an overall term for TBI and non TBI. can result in a variety of symptoms including communication challenges

Major Neurocognitive Disorder is described as

* Evidence of __significant__ cognitive decline from PLOF (prior level of function)


* The deficits interfere with independence in ADL’s (activities of daily living)
* The deficits are not better explained by another disorder

Mild Neurocognitive Disorder is described as

* Evidence of modest cognitive decline from PLOF


* The deficits __do not__ interfere with ADL’s
* The deficits are not better explained by another disorder

What is mild cognitive impairment (MCI)?

* Precursor to disease


* a transition stage or condition between the cognitive changes associated with healthy aging and those associated with dementia (Petersen)

Amnestic MCI

short term memory, word finding, memory impairment

Non-amnestic MCI

affects other cognitive domains, not just memory

Ex: the ability to make sound decisions, judge the time or sequence of steps needed to complete a complex task, or visual perception.