Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Activities

As a professional, you'll need to be versed in cultural competency, cultural humility, culturally responsive practice, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in order to support the wide variety of clients and patients that will be seeking your services. By participating in events like the ones mentioned below, you'll practice cultural competency and cultural humility.

Your chapter should explore all facets of diversity and inclusion when creating events and programs. This can include activities related to learning more about various disabilities; ethnicities; gender; gender expression; gender identity; culture, language, dialect, and accent; race; religion; sex; sexual orientation; or veteran status.

Activity could include:

Having events or doing outreach activites tied to cultural holidays or awareness days/months.
Hosting a seminar, webinar, or book club
Doing a book/supply drive
Hosting a panel of CSD professionals from marginalized groups
Devoting a meeting to an area in our field that is touched by DEI and hosting a chapter conversation
Co-hosting a discussion or event with a multicultural club or other CSD-organization
Developing a mentoring program to support BIPOC or marginalized students.
Starting a diversity coalition or committee focused on sharing DEI resources.
Performing outreach about CSD to middle and high school and community college students from underrepresented groups.
Attending a DEI event/program or reading/viewing a resource as a chapter and hosting a follow-up discussion

Chapter Examples

Hosting an Event

Albizu University, Puerto Rico (2022-23 Chapter of the Year)
At the beginning of the semester, we participated as volunteers in Deaf Children's and CODA Fun Day and in the Deaf vs. Hearing Game Day. Also, we had the opportunity to interview the Dr. Gloriana Cruz, ClinScD, CCC-SLP, through an Instagram Live were we talked about voice therapy with transgender patients and appropriate inclusive language used in interventions. Additionally, we hosted another Instagram Live interview with Coral M. Rodríguez Plaud, MS, CCC-SLP, who talked to us about what means to be a Puerto Rican bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist working with different populations in the United States.

Thiel College
In March 2023, our department planned an interdisciplinary DEI lecture, “Creating Safe(r) Spaces for Trans and Gender Non-Confirming Patients, Clients and Students; Trauma Informed Rapport Building Across Settings.” by AC Goldberg. The program was intended for students in healthcare majors across Thiel's campus. To pay for the event, it was offered to SLPs nationwide for CEUs. Our NSSLHA members asked AC to stay after the event for a student advocacy chat for the opportunity for increased learning specific to SLP. Our NSSLHA advisor posted on the NSSLHA advisor forum, and we advertised on social media. One hundred thirteen healthcare professionals (SLPs, clergy, OTs, AuD, and PA) attended the lecture, and over 30 SLP students and chapter advisors stayed after for the chat. After the event, our NSSLHA students were inspired to post reels on Instagram (link provided below) to discuss their learning and continue advocacy work for the trans and gender non-confirming patients, clients, and students we serve.

University of Arkansas

Our chapter hosted a guest speaker who is a bilingual SLP pursuing a LSLS certification for auditory-verbal therapy. Our executive board reached out to Elizabeth Ocampo-Roman at Arkansas Children's Hospital during the fall semester and asked her to speak on the importance of cultural competence, and the impact that being bilingual has for clients. She gave a powerful presentation for our members and emphasized the level of trust and respect that clients feel when their culture is not only respected, but also welcomed in therapy through using their home language. Elizabeth provided some stark statistics on the negative impact of stifling families' use of different languages and the very small percentage of SLPs who are bilingual (6%) in the United States. Our members got to learn some key aspects of Spanish culture, including common family roles, values, and communication styles.

California State University, Long Beach

To honor our theme of neurodiversity in April, we hosted an event with our advocacy chair and a guest speaker. Our advocacy chair will be discussing the importance of embracing neurodiversity and how we as speech-language pathologists and audiologists can work with the community. Afterward, we will have our guest speaker, Angela Evenich, join us. Angela is a CF-SLP with cerebral palsy who will discuss the various barriers and ableism she encountered within our very own profession. Previously, she has been a guest speaker at National NSSLHA events and has done multiple presentations at conferences regarding her research.

Angela's presentation will aim to highlight her perspective on accessibility and career barriers. She will also share her thoughts about how we can accommodate disabled clinicians and reflect on our perceptions of supporting neurodiverse communities.

Hosting a Book/Supply Drive and Doing Outreach

Freed-Hardeman University

Students received a TN Governor's recognition for their establishment of a rural health clinic to help rural marginalized groups in West TN. NSSLHA was integral in providing therapy items to get the clinic started. The clinic does not charge or even look at insurance and has been able to reach out to marginalized populations such as those living in poverty, racial and ethnic minorities in a racially and ethnically homogenous region, and those who do not have transportation or access to other services.

Abilene Christian University
During the fall semester, our chapter held a diversity book drive so we could donate books with diverse characters to SLPs in Abilene. We ended up collecting around 20 books, which was exciting because we were able to provide many resources that are inclusive for a variety of clients. In our CSD program, we frequently discuss ways the field is becoming more diverse and broader, specifically through the increasing demand for bilingual SLPs and SLPs that provide voice and gender-affirming therapy for people who are transitioning genders.

MGH Institute of Health Professions
Our chapter focused on championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in multiple ways this year. We organized a book/supply drive for children at a local HeadStart and focusing on creating an inclusive and empathetic classroom environment for the children at the center. In collaboration with classroom teachers, we were intentional about choosing books for the students that celebrate diversity and inclusion in all forms. Individually, members of our chapter also participated in speaking to diverse high school student populations about the field of Speech-Language Pathology in order to foster student interest in science and healthcare.

Baylor University

Our DEI and Service Chairs worked together diligently to have a book drive so that NSSLHA could aid in diversifying our clinic's book collection.

We strove to represent all types of families, races, and lifestyles in the books available at the clinic, and to accomplish this, we must continue to update and add to this collection. This proactive approach demonstrates our chapter's recognition of the importance of representation in literature and its potential impact on the clients Baylor serves.

The quantity of books collected not only exceeded expectations but also enabled NSSLHA to host a Fall Carnival Activity that gave away picture books as prizes to the children who were in attendance!

Overall, Baylor's chapter of NSSLHA's book drive helps to show the transformative power of community-driven DEI initiatives. Through their collective efforts, we not only enhanced the Baylor clinic's resources but also provided diverse literature to children via an interactive Carnival game.

Partnering With a Multicultural Club or Other CSD-Organization

University of Central Arkansas
This year, our NSSLHA chapter worked with the first Arkansas University National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (AR-NBASLH) organization at UCA. We met with the advisors and officers of this upcoming organization to learn how to establish a welcoming environment in our NSSLHA chapter for minorities and marginalized groups. We incorporated their advice into the rest of our academic year. We had the officers speak to our membership to discuss the importance of DEI and talk about AR-NBASLH. We sent them a $500 donation to help them work to become an established and official organization at UCA.

James Madison University
One of our goals this year was to improve our DEI efforts, this started with building a connection with CSD-Demarginalized, a new organization at JMU designed to build a safe community for marginalized populations within the CSD major. As students at a predominantly white institution, in a major mainly comprised of females, we are trying to strive to find ways to increase diversity in our field. In February, NSSLHA hosted a meeting with CSD-Demarginalized and the CSD DEI director to discuss how we can promote DEI in our field, which helped us learn ways to make our club more inclusive.

University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences

In October of 2023, our chapter was privileged to host a webinar featuring Dr. Aquiles Iglesias, a distinguished figure in the realm of bilingualism within Speech and Language Pathology. Dr. Iglesias introduced us to his innovative screener, QUIL:ES, a web-based tool designed as a playful assessment for evaluating the language skills of English-Spanish bilingual children aged 3 to 5 years. This webinar was not just an educational session; it was a profound exploration of diversity in our field, reflecting our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the Spanish-speaking population grows in the U.S., understanding and integrating bilingual assessment tools like QUIL:ES becomes essential. This opportunity allowed us to delve into the nuances of bilingual language development and the importance of culturally responsive practices, ensuring we are equipped to serve a diverse demographic effectively. Dr. Iglesias's insights underscored the critical need for inclusivity in our approaches and methodologies, enriching our perspectives and enhancing our professional competence in meeting the needs of bilingual children.

Hofstra University

Our Student Advocacy Committee was able to reach out to Hofstra's Organization for Latin American Students (HOLA) and collaborate with them on an event about bilingualism and multiculturalism. We were able to host multiple small group discussions about the bilingual experience, cultural awareness, and sensitivity, and we had some fun swapping Spanish vocab and ASL vocab. Many of the students from HOLA didn't know much about Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, so we had the unintended benefit of teaching them about the professions as they shared their experiences with us. The event was so successful that many students from both organizations continued their conversations well after the official end time of the meeting.

Starting a Diversity Coalition or Committee

San Diego State University
Our chapter holds Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) meetings in addition to our other NSSLHA meetings. At these meetings, we discuss important JEDI topics in our field. We discussed hidden identities within ourselves and the field and how they impact us in supporting clients and their families, and we highlighted SLPs and audiologists who are breaking barriers within our field. We discussed Julie Washington's article about schools recognizing African American English and respecting it as a dialect and Ingrid Desorme's article that she wrote for ASHAWire about what it means to be a Black SLP.

University of Central Florida
Our chapter has a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion Committee focused on promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the CSD field through highlighting diverse individuals in our own Chapter, bringing in guest speakers (e.g., SLPs and Audiologists) from diverse backgrounds, and hosting events that celebrate diversity and inclusion. We hosted ASL informational presentations at local middle schools, held guest speaker events speaking about inclusivity in the classroom, and heard from SLPs from many diverse backgrounds and how they dealt with issues related to inclusion and diversity in our field and how we as young professionals can help.