The purpose of this SIG 1 forum is to provide clinicians with specific steps that they can take to promote social justice within the field of speech-language pathology by exploring cultural flexibility and applying principles of culturally-responsive practice to the selection of assessment and intervention materials. In the first article, the “culture flex” is introduced as a mindset shift to enable clinicians to center culture, engage in selfreflection, and become empowered to enact social justice. The second article leads the reader in identifying less biased early language assessments for young preterm Black children. In the third article, the authors provide a tutorial for evaluating ideologies of “good” languaging in children’s books, and they discuss how to have conversations about these ideologies in ways that promote justice and lead to humanizing and affirming learning spaces for children.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Describe the “culture flex” as it relates to the promotion of social justice within the field of speech-language pathology.
• Describe potential early nonverbal communication differences and the relationship between the outcomes of a direct assessment (CSBS) and a parent questionnaire (CDI) between very preterm Black and White children.
• Explain at least one possible impact of language ideologies on children’s linguistic self-perceptions.

Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

Articles in This Course

1. Introduction to the Forum: With Liberty and Social Justice for All: Part 2 by R. Danielle Scott, published in SIG 1, Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2025
2. The Culture Flex: Advancing Social Justice in Educational Speech-Language Practices by R. Danielle Scott and Megan Mahowald, published in SIG 1, Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2025
3. Testing Very Preterm Black Children to Examine Potential Bias in Two Language Tests by Lauren Prather, Nancy Creaghead, Jennifer Vannest, Lisa Hunter, Amy Hobek, Tamika Odum, Mekibib Altaye, and Juanita Lackey, published in SIG 1, Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2025
4. Strangeness in the Looking Glass: A Tutorial for Interrogating Ideologies of “Good” Languaging in Children's Picture Books by María Rosa Brea-Spahn, Xigrid Soto-Boykin, Kat Pérez, Shakira M. Pérez, Nemesis Salguero Pérez, Mridula Anandhakrishnan, and Erica Saldivar Garcia, published in SIG 1, Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2025