Cultural and linguistic competence is as important to the successful provision of services as are scientific, technical, and clinical knowledge and skills. (www.asha.org)

ASHA’s Multicultural Issues Board has compiled this collection of thought-provoking, guided scenarios for audiologists and speech-language pathologists. This personal workbook will expand upon the knowledge that you have about the relationships between culture, communication, language, and clinical practice, and will challenge the ways you think about how culture impacts every aspect of your professional work. Although situations are never exactly the same, the accompanying reflective questions and evidence-based resources will better prepare you to identify your own biases and improve your clinical service to your students/patients/clients.

The book will help you achieve all of the following:

• Understand the importance of cultural competence across the professional lifespan
• Broaden your cultural competence skills to improve service delivery to your clients
• Explore situations that may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable for you and work through them using guided questions and evidence-based resources
• Recognize the importance of understanding cultural variability
• Grow your clinical skills of self-reflection and exploration regarding your cultural responsiveness

Throughout the book, the contributors encourage you to consider how being culturally responsive is fundamental to appropriate service provision.

Read the foreword and a sample scenario.

Soft cover, 304 pages

Winner of a 2021 AM&P Network Association Council EXCEL Award — Bronze

When you purchase the eBook or Best Buy you will get instant access to your digital content. Click on the “Access Your Content” link on your order confirmation screen or your email receipt. You will be prompted to sign in using your ASHA credentials. You will need to be connected to the Internet to view your content. You can access your content from any of your devices or computers from the “My Library” tab on the store, or via your ASHA Account page. Please note that this digital product is non-refundable.

Hear From the Editor:

Reviews

"Reading through this workbook elicited strong emotions, one because the stories were so authentic and tough to read, but also because the reflection questions forced you to dig deep to identify your own biases and missteps, and to thoughtfully ponder your clinical decisions with diverse populations. The scenarios touched the pulse of today’s diverse world of audiology and speech-language pathology practice and laid open the great responsibility we bear to be culturally responsive practitioners.

This is a superior effort by ASHA’s Multicultural Issues Board. This critical work will rejuvenate and reawaken us to the fact that there remains so much work to be done in the area of cultural competence and that we must remain vigilant, informed, and emboldened in this cause."

—Marlene B. Salas-Provance, PhD, CCC-SLP, FASHA

"This work is an extensive culmination of real-life relevant experiences faced by audiologists and speech-language pathologists on a daily basis. The scenarios will keep you spellbound and engaged. They address current social and societal interactions that impact human communication. It’s remarkable in its depth, filled with resources and tools you can use in an impactful way in your clinical practice today. This workbook is one of the most useful tools yet developed for work in our professions."

—Tedd Masiongale, MA, CCC-SLP

"If you are like me, you have driven many types of vehicles on roads and highways. My side-view mirrors have been adjusted to where I could see a lot of what was beside me and other times I could not see much of anything. The mirrors would be adjusted as appropriate so I could get the best view possible. However, there is always a blind spot present, and there has been a time or two when I did not take the extra effort to physically turn my head to check my blind spot before? hanging lanes, which resulted in a near collision with another vehicle. This highlighted the importance to me to always check my blind spot so that myself and others are safe on the road.

This workbook is a great resource for clinicians as it highlights the blind spots that we sometimes have when it comes to cultural awareness, biases, etc. Not checking our blind spots can have serious implications on our patients, our relationships with them and their families, and the quality of care that we provide to them. In order to consistently provide the best service possible, we need to take the extra effort to check ourselves and any potential biases we may have. This workbook challenges us to check our blind spots continuously as we navigate the familiar and unfamiliar roads of our workplace settings. This is an excellent resource/roadmap for clinicians and practitioners!"

—David I. Alexander, AuD, CCC-A

"This collection of experiences shared by the ASHA Multicultural Issues Board offers a phenomenal opportunity to prepare students, clinicians, and educators to become culturally responsive in the speech-language-hearing sciences field. Each scenario is inspired by real stories and provides an effective self-learning structure to strategically engage readers in learning extensive culturally related issues currently existing in our professions. This book … paves the way to cultivate readers to become culturally responsive and to practice cultural humility. This book marries culture and clinical practice and is one of the most important resources in the professions."

—Hsinhuei Sheen Chiou, PhD, CCC-SLP