From Classroom to Community: A Viewpoint on Advocacy Assignments Encouraging Student Action

Purpose: The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) includes advocacy in a list of five professional practice areas within the scope of practice for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), yet few SLPs report self-efficacy and preparedness to advocate. The purpose of this viewpoint article is to discuss advocacy within the context of the current disability and stuttering discourse and offer a structured advocacy assignment as one method of fostering graduate students' agency and action to advocate for the stuttering community. Method: We provide an overview of advocacy within ASHA's scope of practice, disability frameworks, and self-advocacy as they relate to stutter-affirming therapy. Then, we introduce an advocacy assignment for graduate students enrolled in a semester-long stuttering course. Results: The advocacy assignment introduced in this viewpoint article has been incorporated into four distinct stuttering courses. Here, we explain the different types of advocacy students may pursue through the assignment and example products of each advocacy type. Conclusions: We recommend that graduate programs, course instructors, and clinical supervisors/preceptors consider opportunities to build graduate students' confidence in advocacy, particularly advocacy completed in collaboration with the stuttering community. Future research will assess the effectiveness of a stuttering advocacy assignment in increasing students' preparedness to advocate as part of their professional practice.