People with disabilities affecting speech, language, and voice are at higher risk for avoidable health care errors and negative health care outcomes, says SLP Megan Morris, a faculty member at the University of Colorado. Her work addresses health care disparities experienced by people with disabilities and disabilities related to communication.

She discusses the role that CSD professionals play in reducing barriers associated with health care disparities for people with disabilities—particularly disabilities affecting communication.

Look for the transcript for this episode online at on.asha.org/podcast

We all speak in different dialects. Today’s guest, John Baugh, provides history and context for those differences in the way we speak in the U.S., and explores their effects.

Baugh, president of the Linguistic Society of America, shares how dialect can be used to discriminate against people, which he refers to as linguistic profiling. Baugh explains how linguistic profiling can affect all facets of people's lives, from apartment leasing to legal proceedings. He also describes his experiences acting as an expert witness in court.

SLP Emily Kornman discusses her work as a part of Team Gleason, a nonprofit supporting people with ALS. When ALS erodes someone’s ability to speak, many turn to augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, to find their voice. Kornman discusses her work with AAC devices and voice and message banking.

Plus, we’ll hear a first-hand account from a family Kornman assisted with message banking in her work for Team Gleason.

This episode was produced in anticipation of the 2022 ASHA Convention, where Team Gleason founders Steve Gleason and his wife, Michel, will be honored with the Annie Glenn Award.

Audiologist Laura Coco and otologist Carrie Nieman join the podcast to preview their talks at the Research Symposium on Hearing, part of the 2022 ASHA Convention in November.

The two focus on health care disparities and access issues, sharing innovative ways to meet hearing care needs—including the use of community health workers. Both researchers look at how these trusted community members can help clinicians close the hearing health gap.

If you’ve ever looked at someone else and thought, “How do I get that job?”—this episode is for you. ASHA Voices is bringing you three SLPs' accounts of moving from something familiar to something new.

These SLPs took a risk or made a move, and their careers haven't been the same since. They tell how they’re applying their CSD skills and knowledge to entirely new challenges.

How can a blow to the head result in difficulties with hearing and listening?

Audiologist Gail Whitelaw discusses what clinicians may want to consider when assessing or treating a person who's had a brain injury. She tells the story of one patient's long road to hearing care after acquiring a TBI during the Boston Marathon bombing.

Plus, author and researcher Nina Kraus (“Of Sound Mind”) takes us into the brain to reveal what she’s learning about how TBIs can affect the brain’s ability to make sense of the sounds in our lives.

First, hear from two SLPs in Chicago. This mentor-mentee duo shares lessons and stories from the more than 35 years they’ve known each other.

In the second half of the episode, we hear from two bilingual SLPs. The way they met would have been impossible just a few years ago. Hear what resulted from this international mentorship.

Amanda Piper is one of just a few audiologists in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago. Inspired by a personal connection, Piper traveled to the U.S. to study audiology, and today, she works as a clinical audiologist for the Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired.

In recounting her education at UNC Greensboro and Vanderbilt University and career path back to her home country, Piper highlights some of the differences between working inside and outside of the U.S.

How do society’s expectations of people who stutter affect those speakers’ experiences?

As a person who stutters and as an SLP specializing in stuttering, Chris Constantino of Florida State University discusses how concepts like neurodiversity and the social model of disability can influence and inspire intervention. He shares what these ideas mean to him and how they might look if they’re applied in practice.

Plus, Constantino highlights some of the positive moments he’s gained in his life from being a person who stutters.

This conversation was originally published in August 2021.

Clients need to feel that they are valued and respected, and for gender-diverse clients, this often begins with the language we use. The consequences of not showing this respect can be large. They can even lead to negative client outcomes, as our guest today shares.

SLP Greg Robinson is a faculty member at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the chair of L’GASP, ASHA’s LGBTQ+ caucus.

Robinson shares guidance on how to approach conversations around gender and what to do if you inadvertently slip up. They also tell a personal story of how a health care provider’s language led them to stop receiving care.