Navigating Texting With Aphasia: Insights From People With Aphasia and Their Partners

Text messaging is a widely used mode of communication. Like people without aphasia, people with aphasia use texting to communicate with those in their social networks. As the study of texting in aphasia is relatively new, little is known about the impact of aphasia on texting experiences. This study aims to uncover how people with aphasia and their partners navigate text messaging and how texting patterns change throughout recovery.

Participants included 15 people with aphasia and a self-selected texting partner. Naturalistic texting data and semistructured interviews were collected and analyzed qualitatively through reflexive thematic analysis.

Analyses revealed that people with aphasia and their partners were operating in a dynamic, interactional texting environment that was negotiated over time. As people with aphasia recovered and partners engaged in texting together, the actions of both partners evolved to accommodate communication challenges and foster understanding. Three overarching themes were generated: (a) Shared history between partners influences how we communicate through text; (b) physical and emotional health are mediated through texting; and (c) cyclical influence of texting and knowledge and understanding of aphasia.

Findings indicate that texting is a critical modality for sustaining relationships, engaging in desired life activities, and improving partners' knowledge of aphasia. Texting can also serve as a direct illustration of recovery and provide a space for partners to learn about aphasia and incorporate communication strategies. Results have clinical and research implications that can be further developed to support access to texting as a communication modality.