African American English: How to Determine Difference vs. Disorder

SLP

DEI/culturally responsive practice

SLP: language disorders

Participants will discover the origins and features of African American English (AAE). Due to the inherent cultural biases within traditional, standardized assessments, the presenter addresses a variety of evidence-based speech-language assessments to evaluate AAE speakers. This seminar concludes with an analysis of treatment related to AAE, and additional implications for speakers of AAE.

Presenters

Courtney Overton
MS, CCC-SLP
Courtney Overton, MS, CCC-SLP is the Owner and Founder of Speech of Cake, Inc., a private practice in Alexandria, Virginia that specializes in treating speech sound disorders, dyslexia, and dysgraphia. She is also the Project Manager of a federally funded grant at the University of Maryland in which she and a team of consultants are researching the linguistic structures of African-American English in preschool age children. In 2020, Courtney co-founded a microschool to help kids learn in the middle of a pandemic. St. Clair Learning Center is an innovative educational environment for elementary-age students. Courtney's commitment to learning never ends! She is a doctoral student in literacy, culture, and language education at Indiana University with a minor in educational leadership. She attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts to earn a master's degree in speech-language pathology, and she obtained a bachelor's degree in speech-language pathology, minor in linguistics, and certificate in American Sign Language at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the origins and features of African American English (AAE).
Describe different approaches to use in the assessment of speakers of AAE to accurately diagnose a communication disorder.
Explain the clinical implications related to treating an AAE speaker with a communication disorder.

Agenda

5 minutes	Introduction
15 minutes	Origins and features of African American English (AAE)
15 minutes	How to evaluate AAE speakers
15 minutes	How to treat AAE speakers with communication disorders
10 minutes	Q&A

Disclosures

Speakers - Financial	Courtney Overton is the Owner & Founder of Speech of Cake, Inc. and St. Clair Learning Center. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland. Courtney is receiving financial compensation from brIQht media, dba brIQht ideas, for this presentation.
Speakers - Nonfinancial	Courtney Overton is a member of ASHA SIG #1 Language Learning and Education, and #14: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity.
Course - Financial Support & In Kind	This course, and all courses in The Equity Series, are being sponsored by Having Our Say, LLC and SLP Toolkit.

ASHA

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