An aphasia mentoring program: perspectives of speech-language pathology students and of mentors with aphasia

In contrast to clinician-as-expert models, social models of clinical practice typically acknowledge people with aphasia as equal partners in intervention. Given this, there may be a place within speech-language pathology education for programs situating people with aphasia as experts. This paper describes an aphasia mentoring program that was implemented as part of a speech-language pathology graduate program.

Qualitative research methods with thematic analysis of interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and participant observation were used to develop a description of the mentoring program, including the experiences and perspectives of the participants-both mentors (people with chronic aphasia) and students.

Five themes, including getting better, aphasia advocacy, group as versus for therapy, we're a team, and focus on mentoring, emerged from the mentors' data. Five themes, including shifting the power dynamic, getting to know the person, seeing members as mentors, making classroom learning real, and connecting with a community, emerged from the students' data. There were significant overlaps and intersections between the 2 data sets.

Findings revealed how an aphasia mentoring program that positions people with aphasia as experts can make a significant contribution to student education while supporting mentors' own goals, with implications for improved quality of life.