Aphasia manifested due to stroke and tumor might differ in various aspects. Most often, aphasia is mild in tumor excision cases during the acute phase and needs more of a family-centered approach for the betterment of life (Davie et al., 2009). Various test batteries reveal that post tumor excision a significant decrease in communication abilities can be observed (Brownsett et al., 2019). This study included a 37-year-old female NS with Non-fluent Aphasia and right hemiplegia secondary to left fronto-parietal intradiploic tumor. She underwent left parietal craniotomy, excision of bone tumor and cranioplasty. She is a polyglot with a pre-morbid exposure to Kannada, Hindi, and English. Systematic 40 tele-sessions over a span of four months were followed during COVID-19. Shape coding approach, semantic feature analysis, oro-motor exercises, and Eight-step Continuum (Rosenbek et al., 1973) were practiced. Patient-centered therapy through tele-rehabilitation was followed to improve the daily communication skills, thus, the quality of life. The pre and post therapy measurements showed improvement in fluency, mean length of utterance, phonological mean length of utterance, number of verb tokens, percent of verb types and percent of thematically complete sentences. A significant decrease in the frequencies of phonemic paraphasia and groping behavior are observed. Post therapy, communication skills as per the needs of the individual and the environment showed remarkable improvement. The recovery was observed to be better in Kannada followed by Hindi. Aphasia rehabilitation post tumor excision demands early intervention approach. Consistent speech-language therapy along with physiotherapy has contributed to the pronounced improvement in the quality of life of the person. Tele-rehabilitation seems promising to provide consistent rehabilitation services during COVID-19 even when patients with aphasia are unable to access direct/offline services.
Polyglot aphasia secondary to post Left Fronto-Parietal Tumor: A case study on Tele-rehabilitation