03/16/2026
Graduate Student Spotlight: Casei Burkhalter ✨
Our graduate clinicians continue to gain valuable real-world experience through externship placements across the region. This week we are highlighting Casei, who is completing an externship at Atrium Health Floyd Outpatient Rehabilitation.
During her placement, Casei has worked with a diverse caseload while collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of physical and occupational therapists. Her clinical experiences have included supporting adults with aphasia, dysphagia, dysarthria, voice disorders, and cognitive-communication impairments, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. She has also worked with pediatric clients with communication delays.
Casei shared that the setting has allowed her to grow her clinical skills through both evaluation and treatment experiences. She has conducted assessments such as the CLQT and swallowing evaluations while implementing a variety of intervention approaches.
“In this setting I have primarily served adult patients with aphasia, dysphagia, dysarthria, voice disorders, and cognitive-communication impairments while working collaboratively on an interdisciplinary rehabilitation team,” she explained. “My treatment experience includes play-based therapy, melodic intonation therapy, oral motor exercises, and compensatory swallowing strategies.”
We are proud of the work Casei is doing and the clinical growth she is demonstrating as she prepares for the next stage of her career in speech-language pathology.
