Abstract
Communication partner training (CPT) is among the most evidence-based interventions for supporting people with aphasia, yet many speech-language pathologists report not implementing it in practice, and graduate students frequently report low confidence communicating with people with aphasia prior to targeted training. This qualitative descriptive study examined graduate students' experiences learning CPT through a course-embedded, multi-modal experiential approach with structured reflection. Written reflections from 79 first-year graduate students across two university programs served as the data source. Reflections were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: Learning by Design, reflecting students' metacognitive awareness of the pedagogical elements most meaningful to their development; Starting to Feel Like a Clinician, capturing a transformation in how students understood people with aphasia and themselves as emerging professionals; and Moving Forward, reflecting students' empowerment and forward orientation toward future practice and advocacy. Themes were consistent across both sites despite meaningful differences in specific learning activities, suggesting that the underlying structure of the approach may matter as much as any single activity. Findings suggest that well-designed, course-embedded CPT can initiate the person-centered attitudinal shift that Life Participation Approach to Aphasia-informed practice requires, with implications for curriculum design, accreditation standards, and the preparation of the next generation of speech-language pathologists.
Recommended Citation
Strong, K. A.,
Kim, E. S.,
Kagan, A.,
&
Simmons-Mackie, N.
(2026).
Starting to Feel Like a Clinician: Graduate Student Experiences of Communication Partner Training for People with Aphasia.
Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders, 10(1).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61403/2689-6443.1469
