Reading Comprehension in Aphasia: A Review of Research and Treatment

Abstract

Reading comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) remains an underexplored area despite its critical importance for daily functioning. Aphasia often results in diverse reading deficits that impair the ability to process written input. These deficits are linked to damage in language and cognitive mechanisms, including working memory, attention, and syntactic processing. This review examines the nature of reading impairments in aphasia and evaluates treatment approaches, highlighting gaps in current research. While current treatment approaches show promise for improving reading comprehension, evidence supporting generalization to other language skills and long-term maintenance of gains remains limited. Future research should investigate implicit learning-based approaches, which leverage preserved cognitive abilities in PWA, and explore how cognitive and environmental factors influence treatment outcomes. Emerging technologies, such as text augmentation tools, offer more avenues for intervention, though their efficacy in aphasia-specific contexts is not yet well-established. Advancing our understanding of reading comprehension is essential to enhancing quality of life for individuals with aphasia. To that end, we offer several recommendations for future research, which include examination of the effects of cognitive variables, investigation of implicit learning-based treatment approaches, and validation of emerging technologies.