Voice and Communication Support for Youth Who Are Transgender: Are You Ready?

As more of our students choose to live out their authentic gender expression, school-based speech-language pathologists can play a role in supporting and serving them. Some SLPs they already work with students on their caseload to align their voice and communication with their gender identity and expression. Giving Voice to Teachers on World Voice Day—or Any Day Holistic Voice Therapy for the Whole Person Can Students Qualify for Voice Treatment? For others, learning how to provide appropriate gender-affirming services to those who want and ask for the support might seem overwhelming on top of other responsibilities. But more importantly, our services can help students who are transgender or non-binary access the general education curriculum. Consider the following scenarios. What potential educational and social consequences might they have on a student? A student doesn’t want to attend school because of social anxiety about their gender identity and expression. The school places them in a home program, so they get no engagement with their peers. A student attends school but interacts minimally with peers and staff because they feel uncomfortable about their voice. They isolate themselves out of fear and shame. A student refuses to participate in oral assignments because they don’t want other students and staff to hear their voice, perhaps because they feel it doesn’t align with their gender identity. They miss opportunities to express themselves in and out of the...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Voice Disorders Source Type: blogs