Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2017General Professional Consideration for Use with Bilingual Children AUTHOR(S):
ABSTRACT Growth trends indicate that Spanish-English families are on the rise, and this leads to an increase in the likelihood of a monolingual clinician treating an individual with a language difference (Pew Research Center, 2008; Instituto Cervantes, 2016). The increasing diversity in languages presents a new challenge for monolingual healthcare providers in their efforts to work with bilingual Spanish-English clients and their families. This commentary provides discussion of the following professional considerations to meet the needs of those clinicians: (1) Establishing Rapport through Verbal Communication, (2) Written Communication, and (3) Bilingual Assessment Methods. A clinical scenario is included with each professional consideration to aid in practical application for service delivery in speech-language pathology or audiology. This commentary also provides a brief overview of the Spanish language as well as discussion on the use of culturally related terminology when working with clients and their families from Spanish-speaking countries. DOI: DOWNLOAD FULL ARTICLE |