This is a guest blog post by Monica, a school-based SLP, all about how to be culturally responsive and why it matters!
Representation matters!
An easy way to keep that trust going with students is to have them feel like they are included and represented.
The account Books for Diversity on Instagram is an easy way to find culturally diverse books.
I love this ASHA post, “Why Use Literary Interventions for Diverse Populations” by Phuong Palafox (2018), as well as her Instagram for information about cultural responsiveness.
In her post, Phuong talks about “three ways to incorporate literacy to support the diverse needs of your students and clients”. They are: connect to experience, represent diverse narratives, and value home language. It’s a great way to build rapport and trust when your students’ culture is respected and included in your sessions.
View this post on Instagram
I also love JRC the SLP and her anti-racism work.
Want more information on diversifying your therapy materials? Check out this SLP Now podcast with Liliana from The Bilingual Speechie.
Nina and Scott from Stuttering Therapy Resources also have so much great information on how stuttering is verbal diversity. They also talk about different paradigm shifts around thinking about stuttering in another way.
Here’s a great post about how we should use the word “stuttering” and drop the word “fluency”, as fluency should not be the end goal of therapy.
Keep in mind that it took me years to include all of this in my sessions! It may take some time if you choose to adopt any of these in your sessions and some shifts in thinking, but they are some of the most significant changes that you can make in your therapy room.
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