Podcast 5: Dr. Li-Rong Lilly Cheng on Human Communication as a Human Right

Transcript

Welcome to ASHA Network News, a continuing series that highlights issues of interests to ASHA members.

Joe Cerquone: I'm speaking today with Dr. Lilly Cheng. Dr. Cheng is an ASHA fellow and frequent presenter at ASHA conferences. She is also a professor in the school of Speech, Language & Hearing Science at San Diego State University. Dr. Cheng, thank you for being on ASHA Network News.

Dr. Cheng: Thank you.

Joe: You have so many areas of interest. I was looking at your background, and I know that one of the current ones is looking at human communication as a human right. Recognition of that right is specifically referenced in ASHA's new strategic approach that will take effect in 2008, and I'm just wondering how the thought that this is now sort of being codified, so to speak, in how ASHA views things, how that strikes you.

Dr. Cheng: Yes I am very excited about this new strategic plan. I think it is a cause for our celebration. Embracing the fact that we are human beings and we are having the rights to speak, to communicate, to use the language. I think it also has global implications for our work, for our mission, to improve the qualities of life of people through the use of strategies to help people communicate better.

Joe: Why is such recognition-such formalized recognition like that-why is that so important?

Dr. Cheng: I think that ASHA as an organization continues to define and redefine our scope of practice from a long history of serving people. We focus on speech, we focus on hearing, we focus on language, we focus on communication. But all of those things actually point to one direction only. The direction that our humanity is maintained through communication. For that reason I think it is a way for us to redefine ourselves once again to make certain that we have a very embracing mission.

Joe: Very well said. I brought up the fact that at an institutional level this sort of recognition is taking place. I'm wondering what your thoughts are about what difference it makes in the lives of those with communication disorders. What real difference does it make for an organization such as ASHA to do this?

Dr. Cheng: As human beings we have a reason to exist. Communication gives us the definition to exist, but more importantly it gives us the power to exist. The access of information through communication is what defines us as human beings in all kinds of human institutions, be it our home front, or our work, our school, our society. It is how we share our humanity. So by looking at language communication rights, as human rights, we give power to those who are suffering from communicative disorders.

Joe: I know that you've done some work and some speaking with respect to this idea of human communication as a human right. When you've talked that way-particularly if you've had a chance to discuss this to a lay audience-what sort of reaction do you find yourself getting?

Dr. Cheng: Well, different reactions. However, if we go down to the basic level of human needs, then communication comes very naturally. So people generally accept the notion that we all have an urge, a need, to communicate. Some people of course would react differently because people define language and communication quite differently. Sign language for example, literacy another, the cultural poverty defines the right to talk, the right to voice their opinions differently. So I think different groups have different agendas and because of that they react differently. But all people that I have talked to agree on a very simple notion that it is human nature to communicate.

Joe: I would think that for some people who hear this idea of communication as a human right they scratch their heads and they go - they would say, wait a minute, a human right? There's nothing political about being able to communicate. And they think of human rights in a political context. Do you find that that's the reaction that you get?

Dr. Cheng: Well, when we get into politics everything is possible. We define policies based on what we think is important and I think that across the lifespan for everyone to have the right to access information and communication is sort of taken for granted. But for those who are struggling to be heard, we sometimes are their voices, we sometimes are their signs. So if they scratch their head it is because they may not think about language and communication as so powerful, because many people have them and they don't have to think about them. It is those who do not have them or for some reason have been deprived of them. Then suddenly it becomes so important.

Joe: What can the individual do to foster this idea of communication as a human right? Both professionals and lay people.

Dr. Cheng: I think the most powerful examples would be human stories. Those who have for some reason lost their language and communication abilities for a while and are gaining back their ability to communicate. For example, a senator-yesterday I heard him on the radio-talking about his recovery from a major insult to the brain, how his speech has been compromised and how he is struggling to be heard. Those people, their life stories, tell us their right to speak and they must understand from their own experiences what it is like to be deprived of their right to communicate.

Joe: This is a very wonderful notion and an idea and obviously one that needs to be accepted. I'm just wondering how confident are you of there being widespread acceptance of this notion of human communication as a human right. What makes you think that it stands a chance of being widely accepted?

Dr. Cheng: I am very confident that this one concept is a concept that will not only evolve as a major concept but I think it will gain a lot of momentum and support from the whole entire globe. The fact that we have people thinking about communication, looking for ways to do better in communication, to not only talk about human beings as people who need to communicate, but to really understand each other and to go beyond that and maybe even more ultimately, how we can communicate for the purpose of maintaining world peace. I think this will be able to be accepted. I think-I have great confidence in this area because as we look at the world today we have many, many problems and many of the problems are caused because of a breakdown in communication. If we can take a higher stand on this I think we promote a much higher goal in our human communication and human society.

Joe: Dr. Cheng, I'd just like to close with a question in a little bit of a different direction. But I want to take advantage of your expertise and particularly your worldview. I know that you have great experience globally and that your outlook is global. And I think that oftentimes we in this country tend to get a little bit insular in how we view things. And I'm just wondering if there was one thing that's going on across the border somewhere that is really important for our listeners to understand and appreciate. Something that is of relevance to the world of communication: what it is that you would like people to be aware of and to know.

Dr. Cheng: Are you talking about our international borders?

Joe: Yes.

Dr. Cheng: Are you talking about our globe in general?

Joe: Yes.

Dr. Cheng: Yes. I think that we can look at the European Union as a good example. The European Union is composed of many countries and many more so without borders. And the idea of being able to communicate effectively is very strong over there and we look at the United States-especially North America-our northern border is a bilingual country, French and English. Our border towards the south is Mexico with Spanish and many other dialects. Just looking at our immediate environment we may want to explore the possibility of understanding people through the different ways of words, different ways of communication. Then we can go across to the Pacific and across to the Atlantic, then we can see how language is so powerful as a way to understand each other. So I see the stress on using human languages to communicate as being more important in the next century-this century and the next century-and I see globalization and localization as two mandates that will happen no matter where we go.

Joe: Very interesting. Dr. Cheng, you've provided us with wonderful food for thought and I thank you very much for being our guest today.

Dr. Cheng: Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.

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