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The progressive-mirror-drawing approach to integrating sensorial channels in the treatment of schizophrenic patients with disturbances in verbal language is based on the search for the causes of cognitive thought disorders, which are always present in every case of schizophrenia. The cognitive disorders are characterized by the loss of the capacity for symbolic abstraction, over inclusive thought, as well as attentional and language disturbances.
An in-depth analysis of the literature on verbal language disturbances in schizophrenics is provided by Kestenbaum (1986) in Feinsilver (1986). Andreasen (1979a, 1979b) made a detailed study of the language of schizophrenics, carrying out systematic assessments of deviant verbal language, distinguishing 18 subtypes of disturbance in verbal language, concluding that this disorder is present in 50% of schizophrenic subjects.
During the course of a thorough analysis of schizophrenic language, Harrow and Quinlan (1977) observed that patients have difficulty in