Abstract

Abstract

With the growing understanding and awareness surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals and the biases that they may face when accessing services, such as speech and language intervention, this study investigated gender bias and LGBTQ+ bias that may be held by Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) which can impact clinical services provided to pediatric clients and their family members. Additionally, this study investigated if SLPs have familiarity with terminology about gender identity, correct pronoun usage, gender bias, and LGBTQ+ related issues in clinical language assessments and practices. As Evans et al. (2018) notes while there is documented bias against African American children in language assessment there is limited research into other biases held by SLPs and the impact that these biases can have on clients. In an attempt to discover if SLPs expressed LGBTQ+ biases a Qualtrics survey was sent to ASHA certified SLPs asking them to identify key terms and their perspectives on LGBTQ+ understanding and bias and the impact this might have in providing clinical services. Two of the major findings of this study included that SLPs acknowledge there is gender bias in language assessment and materials, and SLPs were open to the fact that a child can identify as a prince or princess no matter their gender assigned at birth.

Advisor

Goldberg, Donald

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Keywords

Cisgender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and plus (LGBTQ+), gender non-conforming, gender identity, gender fluidity, non-binary, bias, gender bias, transgender bias, LGBTQ+ bias, pronouns, Language assessment, Speech-Language Pathology

Publication Date

2021

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2021 Breanna L. Harrell