Examining Culturally-Sustaining SLP Practices

A mere 8% of practicing SLPs indicated that they identify as a person of color, and this number has remained consistent over many years. Additionally, only 8% of practicing SLPs self-identified as multilingual providers having the necessary qualifications to provide services in languages other than English. According to the 2022 United States (U.S.) Census data, approximately 43% of the general U.S. population identifies as being from a culturally diverse racial group and over 20% of children speak another language other than English at home. The result of these demographic phenomena is that there are often profound communication breakdowns, cultural disconnects, and numerous healthcare disparities in the referral and assessment process. This course will discuss the lack of diversity in the field, healthcare disparities, overarching themes from qualitative data, and actionable steps to increase equity in the field.

Presenters

Ana-Maria Jaramillo
SLPD, CCC-SLP
Ana-Maria Jaramillo (pronouns: she/her/ella) is a bilingual pediatric SLP and the owner/founder of Voz Speech Therapy, the only fully bilingual private practice in the DMV. When she isn’t treating patients or teaching, Dr. Jaramillo is actively speaking at local high schools and offering webinars on ways to diversify and combat racism in the field of SLP with her organization, DiverCity SLP.

Learning Objectives

Identify current demographics and issues related to diversity in the SLP field.
List numerous healthcare disparities found across the referral, assessment, and treatment processes within the SLP field.
Discuss a variety of themes based on an informal qualitative survey of ten Latine caregivers with children with disabilities to further understand their health literacy and clinical needs when starting speech-language therapy.
Discuss actionable steps to increase diversity in the field.

Agenda

5 minutes	Introduction
5 minutes	Demographics in the field
5 minutes	Barriers to entry
5 minutes	Disparities in speech therapy referrals
5 minutes	Disparities in speech therapy assessments
5 minutes	Disparities in speech therapy experience
10 minutes	Themes from qualitative data
10 minutes	Supporting equity as an SLP
5 minutes	Mentorship & follow-up
5 minutes	Conclusion

Disclosures

Speakers - Financial	Ana-Maria Jaramillo is the owner/founder of Voz Speech Therapy and a part-time employee at The George Washington University. Ana-Maria Jaramillo is receiving an honorarium as compensation for presenting in this Equity Series.
Speakers - Nonfinancial	Ana-Maria Jaramillo has no non-financial relationships to disclose.
Course - Content	Ana-Maria Jaramillo has no additional content information to disclose.
Course - Financial Support & In Kind	This course is being sponsored by SLP Toolkit and Having Our Say.

ASHA

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