Episode 30: Distinguishing difference from disorder in childhood speech and language disorders in multilingual children with Karla Washington
Jul 9, 2020
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Karla Washington, expert in childhood speech and language disorders in multilingual children, discusses distinguishing difference from disorder. Topics include understanding multilingualism in multiculturalism, analyzing language variations in the Jamaican context, and the impact of contextual factors on childhood language disorders.
Establishing a consistent definition of bilingualism and multiculturalism is crucial for accurate data collection and comparison across studies.
Cultural competence, responsivity, and humility are essential in speech-language pathology practice when working with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The linguistic homogeneity of the speech-language pathology profession poses challenges in serving a diverse clientele, highlighting the need for cultural competence and building capacity within the profession to support multilingual children and families.
Deep dives
Understanding the Complexity of Speech and Language Disorders in Multilingual Children
This podcast episode explores the challenges of diagnosing and treating speech and language disorders in multilingual children. The guest, Carla Washington, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati, emphasizes the need for a consistent definition of bilingualism and multiculturalism to compare data across studies. Washington discusses the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech, which developed a position statement on working with multilingual children. She emphasizes the importance of cultural competence, responsivity, and humility in speech-language pathology practice. Washington also highlights the discrepancy between the linguistic diversity of clients and the linguistic homogeneity of the profession. Additionally, she shares her research on distinguishing difference from disorder and the use of assessment tools like the intelligibility and context scale and the index of productive syntax. The episode concludes with the discussion of ongoing research projects, including the examination of variability in speech sound production and the study of functional communication in bilingual children.
Defining Bilingualism and Multiculturalism
Carla Washington emphasizes the importance of establishing a consistent definition for bilingualism and multiculturalism to ensure accurate data collection and comparison across studies. She highlights the work of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech, which developed a definition of multilingualism as acquiring and being able to comprehend or produce two or more languages with a basic level of functional proficiency. Additionally, Washington discusses the need to broaden the understanding of multilingualism beyond well-studied language pairings and consider variations in linguistic typologies.
Cultural Competence and Responsivity in Speech-Language Pathology
Carla Washington underscores the significance of cultural competence, cultural responsivity, and cultural humility in speech-language pathology practice. She explains that cultural competence refers to the congruent set of attitudes, behaviors, and policies that enable professionals to effectively work with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. Washington highlights the importance of equipping speech-language pathologists with the knowledge and skills to work with individuals from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. She also emphasizes the need for cultural humility, acknowledging that speech-language pathologists may not have expertise in every culture and should approach each individual with respect and openness to learning.
Challenges of Linguistic Diversity in Speech-Language Pathology
Carla Washington discusses the linguistic homogeneity of the speech-language pathology profession and the challenges it poses in serving a diverse clientele. She highlights the significant number of children who do not speak the same language as the speech-language pathologist, emphasizing the need for cultural humility and competence. Washington mentions the use of interpreters and online resources to bridge the linguistic gap. She also discusses the low representation of bilingual speech-language pathologists, emphasizing the importance of building capacity within the profession to effectively support multilingual children and families.
Distinguishing Difference from Disorder in Speech and Language Disorders
Carla Washington addresses the challenge of distinguishing between typical language variation and speech and language disorders in multilingual children. She emphasizes the need for speech-language pathologists to understand the linguistic features of different languages and cultures to avoid misdiagnosis. Washington discusses the use of assessment tools like the intelligibility and context scale to evaluate functional communication abilities. She also highlights the importance of research in developing diagnostic markers and alternate scoring procedures to accurately identify difference and disorder in bilingual children.
