Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination

Purpose: Designed as a comprehensive measure of

aphasia.

Population: Adults.

Time: (180) minutes.

Description: Determines disorders of language function
and neurologically recognized aphasic syndromes. Contains
a short form for rapid access to diagnostic classification and
quantitative assessment.

Materials Included:

- Stimulus Cards
- Record Booklets
- Video (Demonstrating test procedures and
scoring)

: Evaluates various modalities

- Perceptual Modalities
- Auditory and visual.
- Comprehension, analysis, problem-solving
- Response Modalities
- Writing, articulation, and manipulation

1. Conversational
and expository
speech
2. Auditory
Comprehension
3. Oral Expression
Conversational and
expository speech
.
1.Free conversation

Start w/ familiar topic ,3 minutes of
conversation, using open-ended questions
(What type of
work did you
do before your
illness?)
2.Picture
Description

Cookie theft picture is
presented (Tell me
everything you see
going on in this
picture) Point to
neglected features in
picture and ask for
expansion.
3.Story retell

Lay out first set of pictures;
examiner read text pointing
to relevant pictures.
Examiner asks client to retell
story.
- Assess client on
Aphasia Severity
Rating Scale from 0-5
(see record booklet pg 8)
Auditory
Comprehension
1.Word Discrimination:
3 Stimulus card containing pictures
Clinician: Show me in what picture
the person is _______________
two points for correct
identification.
2.Commands: Give
client a series of commands
increasing in complexity.
3.Complex Ideational
Material Test: Closed-ended
questions Starting with simple
facts ("Will a stone sink in
water?")
.Body-Part Identification 4
The patient is asked to point on his
own body to the part named by
the examiner, with the command,
"Show me your (slight pause) __ .


Oral Expression

* Responsive: Patient tells examiner one-word
response to stimulus question , The response words
include nouns, colors , verbs and a number . the score
depends on the time interval required to produce the
response.

* Boston Naming Test: Separate booklet is used
(Boston Naming Test Record Booklet) Stimulus cards are
used


* Screening of special categories: Letters,
numbers and colors; use stimulus cards ,
Scoring: 1 point for each correct response.

* Naming in categories: Actions, animals
and tools; (What is this/it/he doing),
Scoring: 1 point for each correct response .
3.Oral Reading:

- Basic Oral Word Reading: Client given list of
words to read one at a time.

- Oral Reading of Sentence Comprehension:
Client reads sentences.

- Reading Comprehension Sentences and
Paragraphs: Given a phrase, the client must finish
the sentence given choices; sentence complexity
increases.
*Scoring: 1 point for each correct


: 4. Writing

- Mechanics of Writing: Perform nine numbered
writing tasks; such as signature, printed name etc.

- Basic Encoding Skills: Clinician dictates words and
client writes them.

- Oral Spelling: Clinician is instructed to spell six
words aloud.

- Written Picture Naming: Shown picture cards of
actions or objects and asked to spell words.
Scoring: 1 point for each correctly spelled word
ABSTRACT
Nineteen stable left-hemisphere stroke patients with aphasia were
evaluated by the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) and the
Token Test (TT), and by cranial computed tomography (CT). The types of
aphasia included Broca (three patients), Wernicke (four patients),
conduction (four patients), transcortical motor (four patients), and global
(four patients). The lesions, as localized by CT scan, were superimposed
onto five composite lesion localization maps for these five aphasia
syndromes. There was good correlation between BDAE aphasia type and
lesion localization. On CT scans, the locations of cortical language areas lie
in a specific relationship to parts of the ventricular system.
Article

Lesion localization in aphasia with cranial computed tomography and the
Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Exam
and , Ph.D. MARGARET A. NAESER
, M.D ROBERT W. HAYWARD

1.http://www.neurology.org/conte
nt/28/6/545.short
2.https://sites.google.com/site/amel
iataylorsadultresourcesite/diagnosti
c-language-assessments/the-boston-
diagnostic-aphasia-examination
3. Book : The Assessment of Aphasia
and Related Disorders .
By :HAROLD GOODGLASS, Ph.D.
with the collaboration of
EDITH KAPLAN, Ph.D.