Multimodality in PPA: Hand movements as resources in conversations and testing

Purpose: In primary progressive aphasia (PPA), multimodal means may gradually become more important in conversations. In this study, the aim was to investigate the functions of hand movements of a man with PPA. Method: Peter and Karen participated in this study. Peter was diagnosed with non-fluent PPA two years prior to data collection. Casual conversation and cognitive and linguistic testing were audio-and video-recorded. Analyses were informed by multimodal interaction analytical approaches. Results: The results showed that Peter’s opportunities to engage in conversations were enabled within a co-operative framework, where Peter would contribute within a predetermined slot using a variety of multimodal resources to, for example, organize turn-taking or repair difficulties relating to verbal output. Discussion and conclusions: Studying multimodal resources across tasks may reveal important features of the ways in which persons with communicative impairment adjust to different contexts. In clinical settings, multimodal resources need to be viewed as multi-layered actions rather than as isolated contributions.