What is it about?

The needs of bilingual speech-language pathologists working in an urban school district were identified in a focus group. Once these needs were identified, three topics were introduced to the clinicians in a professional learning community (PLC) format over five months.

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Why is it important?

The bilingual speech-language pathologists openly discussed the areas of support they needed in order to feel supported within their district. They identified systemic obstacles, professional obstacles, and specific supports in their practice. Once specific areas of training were provide for the clinicians, they reported feeling a positive experience in their professional learning communities.

Perspectives

"It is vital to consider that many SLPs graduate from traditional programs that do not prepare them to work with bilingual or EL populations. It is vital that clinicians self-identify their own areas of need, and that school districts consider that their clinicans require additional training separate from graduate training. More importantly, SLPs benefit from networking with other bilingual SLPs and professionals to share resources, discuss cases, and learn from each other. Hopefully this article provides supports for other SLPs who may be feeling overwhelmed. " Professor Giselle Núñez Saint Xavier University

Giselle Núñez

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Bilingual Supports for Clinicians: Where Do We Go From Here?, Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, October 2021, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2021_lshss-20-00176.
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