Critical Topics in the Assessment of Bilingual Clients Across the Lifespan

This course will outline the basics of second language development. Critical considerations including dialect, socioeconomic factors, and cultural differences will be discussed in detail. SLPs will learn how to phrase questions in order to inform clinical judgment when determining difference vs. disorder. This course is designed for both bilingual and monolingual SLPs. Content will cover assessment considerations for both bilingual children and adults.

Explore Course

There are many issues that speech-language pathologists face in the assessment of clients who speak another language. Materials available in other languages are scarce. Interpreters may not always be consistently available. There are many gaps in the evidence. Family members are often provided with inaccurate information about bilingualism. Bilingual SLPs (Speech-Language Pathologists) are far and few between. The few bilingual SLPs in the field are often left to their own devices in order to learn about bilingualism outside of the academic setting. These issues leave both bilingual and monolingual SLPs feeling uncomfortable when tasked with assessing clients who speak languages other than English. This course aims to address some of these issues by preparing speech-language pathologists to complete an effective case history for bilingual assessments. This course will outline the basics of second language development. Critical considerations including dialect, socioeconomic factors, and cultural differences will be discussed in detail. SLPs will learn how to phrase questions in order to inform clinical judgment when determining difference vs. disorder. This course is designed for both bilingual and monolingual SLPs. Content will cover assessment considerations for both bilingual children and adults.

Presenters

Jackie Rodriguez
M.S., CCC-SLP
Jackie is a speech-language pathologist from Augusta, Georgia. She received her Master of Science in Communication Sciences & Disorders from Georgia State University. She is an L1 English/L2 Spanish bilingual SLP. She began her career working as a bilingual diagnostician in a large public school system and in private practice before transitioning to medical speech pathology. Jackie currently works as a travel SLP, primarily in skilled nursing facilities in California. Across settings, Jackie has had extensive experience working with families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She is passionate about providing ethical care to culturally and linguistically diverse people across the lifespan. Jackie’s passion for working with these populations is influenced by her own cultural background. She is African American and Afro Puerto Rican. In her spare time, she enjoys learning and teaching others about Black history across the African diaspora, hiking, and going on road trips.

Learning Objectives

Identify the various manners in which a client can acquire a second language.
Distinguish the difference between language proficiency and language dominance.
Identify sociocultural factors influencing a client’s performance during a bilingual assessment.
Phrase critical questions to aid in determining difference vs disorder for assessment of adults and children.

Agenda

15 minutes	Process of Second Language Acquisition & Key Terminology
10 minutes	Sociocultural Factors to Consider Across the Lifespan
15 minutes	Questions to aid in the assessment of bilingual children
15 minutes	Questions to aid in the assessment of bilingual adults
5 minutes	Q & A with audience

Disclosures

Speakers - Financial	Jackie Rodriguez was paid for this persentation.
Speakers - Nonfinancial	Jackie Rodriguez has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.
Course - Content	Jackie Rodriguez has no relevant content information to disclose.
Course - Financial Support & In Kind	This course, and all courses in the Equity Series, are being sponsored by Having Our Say and SLP Toolkit.

ASHA

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs, Introductory Level, Professional Area

Critical Topics in the Assessment of Bilingual Clients Across the Lifespan: $20.00
This course covers the fundamentals of second language development with a focus on dialect, socioeconomic influences, and cultural differences. Designed for both bilingual and monolingual SLPs, it provides guidance on how to ask the right questions to distinguish difference from disorder. Assessment strategies for both bilingual children and adults are included. Includes access to the recorded course and optional ASHA reporting.