|
Many thanks to The ASHA Leader for the recent multicultural issue (April 2). It could not have been more timely!
Here in Southern California, clients represent a vast array of backgrounds. Fortunately, training programs increasingly reflect this diversity. At California State University, Northridge (CSUN), just north of Los Angeles, approximately one-third of new SLP/AUD undergraduates are bilingual. Languages include Spanish, Farsi, Armenian, Russian, Hebrew, Polish, Hindi, and Korean, and many bring strong backgrounds from their home countries, such as pre-med studies or linguistics.
Every spring, CSUN's Communication Disorders and Sciences Alumni Association (CDSAA) throws a career panel and pizza party for students. This year, our focus was multiculturalism, with a panel of bilingual alums. And the special issue of The ASHA Leader arrived the day before! We quickly copied a few articles to distribute and directed students to ASHA's Web site for more information.
About 50 students attended the program, both mono- and bicultural. Several spoke movingly about the challenge of learning technical subjects in a second language. They were cheered by ASHA's recruitment goals and by the mentoring and research funds earmarked for them. Student evaluations of the event ranged from "useful" to "awesome!"
Thanks to ASHA's committee on multicultural issues for shepherding this publication, to the excellent writers, and to the editorial staff. During the CDSAA program, bilingual students were referred to as the "vanguard of the professions." Your work in The ASHA Leader helped them believe it.
Joanna Cazden
Burbank, CA
|