For SLPs, being intentional to create an inclusive environment isn’t just about best practices— it’s vital! One of the most important things you can do for your students is to provide resources that reflect their own families and communities. This approach to therapy encourages greater self-esteem and stronger connections with caregivers. Check out these 3 easy ways to embrace diversity in your speech room this year!
Why You Should Embrace Diversity
Diversity includes race, religion, age, disabilities, and other important pieces of a person’s identity. Research consistently shows that representation matters and that’s no different when providing speech and language services for children!
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in the field of speech-language pathology. Culturally responsive care is considered best practices for all nationally certified SLPs. Recognizing the unique diversity of each client and their family is essential to providing equitable services and improving outcomes.
Promoting diversity and inclusion helps break down barriers to care and improves the quality and effectiveness of the services you provide.
Benefits of Embracing Diversity in the Speech Room
A diverse speech room helps children feel valued and understood. It promotes empathy, reduces biases, and prepares students to thrive in an ever-increasing multicultural world.
It has been found that students who feel represented often feel supported emotionally and socially. They also experience greater self-confidence (Reginal, 2021).
Research from the School Voice Report in 2016 also supports that students who feel a greater sense of belonging are more likely to be motivated to participate in learning.
This engagement is crucial for students’ progress with speech and language goals!
3 Easy Ways to Embrace Diversity as an SLP
Incorporating diversity into your speech room is simple and so impactful! Follow these 3 tips and watch your students begin to flourish:
- Adopt a Family-Centered Approach to Therapy
- Use Diverse Materials
- Invest in Your Continued Learning
1. Adopt a Family-Centered Approach to Therapy
Embrace diversity in the speech room by adopting a family-centered approach to therapy. This approach centers around building strong relationships with your clients and their caregivers.
From your very first interaction with clients and their families, begin to get to know them. Ask genuine questions to learn more about their cultures and specific needs. Let caregivers know that you value their backgrounds and unique knowledge about their children. Be mindful to continue incorporating these moments with caregivers into your brief conversations with them after speech sessions, on phone calls, and at meetings with them.
As you learn more about each child’s unique background, culture, and family needs, you can better tailor your therapy approach and therapy experiences for students. Be sure to ask if there are other languages used in the home or regularly with the child! You may need to provide assessments or parent education materials in more than one language.
If needed, refresh yourself in effective communication with caregivers. Connecting with Caregivers is a webinar that offers practical advice and tips for building strong relationships with caregivers.
By taking time to build positive rapport with caregivers, and involving them in the therapy process, you will improve client outcomes and empower caregivers to support their child at home better. It doesn’t need to be complicated!
*Learn more about bilingualism & speech development.
2. Use Diverse Materials
Incorporating diverse materials into therapy sessions is another vital piece of embracing diversity. This includes books, toys, and other resources that reflect the population you work with.
Exposing children to different races, cultures, and family units is valuable! Even if you have a seemingly homogenous or undiversified population, modeling multiculturalism is worthwhile. Be confident that your commitment to diversity and inclusion will help these students in the long term.
Here are some easy ways to address diversity through your therapy materials:
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Diverse Toys
Encourage creative play with diverse toys that represent a variety of ages, races, and disabilities, like these:
Miniland dolls are available in a variety of races, with Down Syndrome, wearing glasses, with Vitiligo, and more to ensure many students feel represented in the classroom!
It’s important to remember that not all children live with two parents. You can also use these toys to represent the different family structures your students may have at home such as grandparents, single parents, or foster parents of different races.
Books about Diversity
Books are another easy way to promote diversity in your speech room! Strive for books with diverse characters and kid-friendly stories, not books that sound too “message-y”.
Books should represent a variety of family types, races, and locations— not all families live in the suburbs or on a farm!
These diverse books are written by an SLP and showcase diversity including a neurodiverse character.
Diverse Resources
Provide students with diverse resources too!
You can use craft supplies like these while working on differentiated articulation and language resources or when working on activities in group therapy sessions:
One favorite for language groups is to have students create their own versions of themselves or a peer. Target following directions, sequencing, and positional words while promoting community and inclusion!
Invest in Your Continued Learning
Choosing to invest in continued learning that highlights the importance of diversity and inclusion is equally as important for embracing diversity in the speech room.
For SLPs to maintain their CCCs, at least two of the 30 required professional development hours for certification maintenance must be in cultural competency, cultural humility, culturally responsive practice, or diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Even if you are an SLP without your CCCs, it’s valuable to intentionally select continuing education and professional development courses that highlight diversity and inclusion to provide the best care for the clients and families you serve.
ASHA has a variety of courses available to help you become a more culturally competent SLP, but you can find many other great course options elsewhere too!
Embracing diversity in the speech room doesn’t have to feel stressful or hard. Using these 3 easy tips, you can be excited about the changes you’ve made, and rest assured that your therapy sessions will be more meaningful for everyone.
Remember, you’re exactly who your students need this year!
Resources
Reginal, T. (2021, February 11). Providing better support to students of color: The importance of school climate, belonging, and well-being. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/providing-better-support-students-color-importance-school-climate-belonging-and-well-being
Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations. (2016). School Voice Report 2016. Quaglia Institute. https://quagliainstitute.org/dmsView/School_Voice_Report_2016
You may also be interested in reading:
Embracing Neurodiversity in Speech Therapy and Beyond
5 INGENIOUS Strategies to Empower Students in Speech Therapy
4 Simple Ways to Celebrate National Speech-Language-Hearing Month
