Perspectives of Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (SLPAs)| Are They Prepared to Assist with Non-Biased Assessments?

• Main Author: Perez, Rachel
• Language: EN
• Published: California State University, Long Beach 2018
• Subjects: Speech therapy
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10750207

<p> A central challenge in California is how best to provide speech and language services to linguistically and culturally diverse (CLD) populations, given that only a small percentage of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) identify as bilingual. The present thesis investigated whether bilingual speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) can serve as suitable collaborators with SLPs in the process of carrying out screenings and assessments of CLD students/clients. A survey was administered to 6 bilingual SLPAs who reported that they currently assist with bilingual assessment. The results revealed that these participants expressed confidence in their ability to assist in assessments of CLD students/clients. This confidence seems to stem from their linguistic fluency, as well as from their cultural competency. Moreover, these SLPAs reported making use of materials and procedures identified as best practices. However, training for assisting in CLD assessments was largely obtained during work experience, not from formal coursework. Future research will be needed to identify how SLPA training programs can best train bilingual SLPAs to competently assist in CLD assessments in California schools and clinics.</p><p>