Is Progress in the Eyes of the Beholder? Perceptions of Untrained Undergraduate Students vs. Involved Graduate Clinicians and Professionals

For persons with chronic aphasia, improvements in functional communication can continue long after the precipitating event; goals/outcome criteria evolve over time to document improvements.  There is a need to explore what behaviors are appropriate quantitative and qualitative markers of change for persons living with aphasia, for SLPS, and for naïve observers. This study compares behaviors documented as evidence of treatment efficacy for one client with chronic aphasia over 15 months with observations of naïve viewers (UG majors in communication disorders).  Discrepancies are discussed from the perspective of clinical education and of the broader community’s understanding of successful living with aphasia