Asian as SLP?

[usherer]

I'm planning to make a career transition from copywriting to either speech pathology or early childhood. I'm of Chinese ethnicity from Asia.

 

A friend who had studied in Australia told me that none of her Asian classmates secured jobs as SLP in Australia--but she isn't clear whether they were unable or unwilling to do so. She also gave other instances of discrimination.

 

There's a certain amount of discrimination in Asia where Asian-looking teachers (even if they were born overseas and have a British/American/Aussie accent) get passed over or offered lower salaries than non-Asian ones, so I'm wondering if the situation is the same in SLP.

 

Questions:

1. Have you heard of Asian international students who have secured jobs as SLP in English-speaking countries? 

 

2. What are the ways I should try to secure a job? e.g. work in rural areas – for instance? specialise in a certain area – and what would that be?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

[ImHis]

Yes, there are Asian SLP's here in Canada and in the US. I know of 4, two of whom work in hospitals and the other two work at a local school district. One is also a clinical supervisor for the local university.

 

The high rates of stroke and bi-/multilinguals in this population and those who wish to transition to the participate in schools and the workforce but may have underlying cognitive and communication difficulties is also pervasive and as such, knowing how to competently provide speech-language services in the Asian-Pacific language will be very helpful. It will also alleviate the need for translators during assessment. In some areas such as southern Ontario, Vancouver and California where there are significant Asian populations, you'll definitely in demand.

 

The reality is there is racism in this field.  The racism can be covert or explicitly blunt BUT do not let that detract you from pursuing it. As an example of the discrmination, I know one African-American whose clinical supervisor told her she should not work in the field because of her accent EVEN though she was from the US, spoke with an American accent and has been a teacher in the US for many years before switching to SLP.  Unfortunately, it was either pass or fail so she prodded on to make sure she passed that externship so she can move on and complete her hours.  The student was very resolute in her goals and she is now practising as a medical SLP. If this is what you wish to pursue, go for it. I know I am.

 

Here is ASHA's stance on certified professionals who wish to work with an accent:

 

It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that students and professionals in communication sciences and disorders who speak with accents and/or dialects can effectively provide speech, language, and audiological services to persons with communication disorders as long as they have the expected level of knowledge in normal and disordered communication, the expected level of diagnostic and clinical case management skills, and if modeling is necessary, are able to model the target phoneme, grammatical feature, or other aspect of speech and language that characterizes the client's particular problem. All individuals speak with an accent and/or dialect; thus, the nonacceptance of individuals into higher education programs or into the professions solely on the basis of the presence of an accent or dialect is discriminatory. Members of ASHA must not discriminate against persons who speak with an accent and/or dialect in educational programs, employment, or service delivery, and should encourage an understanding of linguistic differences among consumers and the general population. - See more at: http://www.asha.org/policy/PS1998-00117/#sthash.ponpjx7L.dpuf

 

As long as you are competent in the language that you providing the S-L service, you can work.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Articklish

[usherer]

Hi Articklish (love the name), thanks for the reassurance..sort of! The plight of your African-American friend is worrying. As a non-citizen of these countries, perhaps the level of discrimination would be worse. But you're right. I would never know what the outcome may be for my situation, so I should pursue what I want. I'm trying to balance this with being realistic too..

[TakeruK]

Here is ASHA's stance on certified professionals who wish to work with an accent:

 

It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that students and professionals in communication sciences and disorders who speak with accents and/or dialects can effectively provide speech, language, and audiological services to persons with communication disorders as long as they have the expected level of knowledge in normal and disordered communication, the expected level of diagnostic and clinical case management skills, and if modeling is necessary, are able to model the target phoneme, grammatical feature, or other aspect of speech and language that characterizes the client's particular problem. All individuals speak with an accent and/or dialect; thus, the nonacceptance of individuals into higher education programs or into the professions solely on the basis of the presence of an accent or dialect is discriminatory. Members of ASHA must not discriminate against persons who speak with an accent and/or dialect in educational programs, employment, or service delivery, and should encourage an understanding of linguistic differences among consumers and the general population. - See more at: http://www.asha.org/policy/PS1998-00117/#sthash.ponpjx7L.dpuf

 

Thank you for providing this information. I am not in the SLP field at all, but I know I speak with an accent and I sometimes worry that this will put me at a disadvantage when it comes to jobs. I've seen the way some people tune out foreign speakers at academic conferences or the negative comments on teaching reviews for professors with accents. For an oral presentation class at my current grad school, my accent has been brought up as a negative trait as well. I feel that the view that some accents are considered "normal" and others considered negative is unfair and discriminatory. The person that brought this up (the instructor!) actually suggested I should get speech therapy to "correct" my accent, which was a view I found a bit offensive. In Canada, many academic organizations work on accent discrimination but I have not yet seen this as a term during my (admittedly limited) experience in the US school system. 

 

Anyways, I know this was not the original intent of your post, but seeing a stance like this by a professional organization does make me feel a little better. I know that official policies/statements and reality can be quite different, but it does give me a little hope that if a profession that is based speech has a position statement against accent discrimination, perhaps other academic professional societies can recognize this problem and establish their own position statements too. 

 

Again, I am sorry for derailing the thread a bit, but I really wanted to let you know about the positive impact of your post!

[summy]

Thanks!

 

http://slp.support

[VioletAyame]

For an oral presentation class at my current grad school, my accent has been brought up as a negative trait as well. I feel that the view that some accents are considered "normal" and others considered negative is unfair and discriminatory. The person that brought this up (the instructor!) actually suggested I should get speech therapy to "correct" my accent, which was a view I found a bit offensive. In Canada, many academic organizations work on accent discrimination but I have not yet seen this as a term during my (admittedly limited) experience in the US school system. 

Wow that happened? That is indeed quite offensive. I speak with an accent too and it doesn't usually cause me much trouble. People do misunderstand me sometimes and they always ask for clarification and I'll try to find a context to put my slightly-mispronounced words in and then we'll be fine. Nobody has ever called me out on it (I sometimes make jokes about it myself since it can be a bit uncomfortable for them to keep asking me to clarify!) and I certainly would not expect an instructor to say something like that. I know it might be a problem at conference presentations, job talks and so on, and you can't really control people's perception and attention, but I did my undergrad here and never thought that it would even be a problem in a class presentation.

[Applemiu]

Yes, there are Asian SLP's here in Canada and in the US. I know of 4, two of whom work in hospitals and the other two work at a local school district. One is also a clinical supervisor for the local university.

 

 In some areas such as southern Ontario, Vancouver and California where there are significant Asian populations, you'll definitely in demand.

 

 

As a non-citizen of these countries, perhaps the level of discrimination would be worse. But you're right. I would never know what the outcome may be for my situation, so I should pursue what I want. I'm trying to balance this with being realistic too..

 

As a fellow non-citizen, I would just like to remind you about something that you already know: not only you will need to find someone willing to employ you (this is what everybody has to go through) but also someone that likes/wants you so much that he/she is going to sponsor you for a VISA. So, it is going to be hard. I am not saying don't go for it, but just think about it; be aware that you will need to excel to gain a position (to excel as a professional and in your job-hunting skills) and have a plan B ready.

[TakeruK]

Wow that happened? That is indeed quite offensive. I speak with an accent too and it doesn't usually cause me much trouble. People do misunderstand me sometimes and they always ask for clarification and I'll try to find a context to put my slightly-mispronounced words in and then we'll be fine. Nobody has ever called me out on it (I sometimes make jokes about it myself since it can be a bit uncomfortable for them to keep asking me to clarify!) and I certainly would not expect an instructor to say something like that. I know it might be a problem at conference presentations, job talks and so on, and you can't really control people's perception and attention, but I did my undergrad here and never thought that it would even be a problem in a class presentation.

 

Fortunately, I have not had anyone in academia mention my accent so far. The instructor for this presentation class was an outside professional (i.e. not a professor/researcher). However, I have seen reviews on sites like ratemyprof giving negative reviews to profs/TAs with accents and that's a bit worrisome. So I hope this was just an isolated incident!

[VioletAyame]

Fortunately, I have not had anyone in academia mention my accent so far. The instructor for this presentation class was an outside professional (i.e. not a professor/researcher). However, I have seen reviews on sites like ratemyprof giving negative reviews to profs/TAs with accents and that's a bit worrisome. So I hope this was just an isolated incident!

Oh I see. Yes I'm aware of the problems that come with teaching and presenting in conference and such. It is harder to listen to someone with an accent I admit, but I guess in my mind there's a difference between reference for practical purposes and outright stating that you need speech therapy. Also I expect an instructor to be better so to speak on this issue than undergrads (who will also give negative reviews to "hard exams" and "strict attendance policies").

[Betty Yu]

There's a great need for more diversity in the speech-language pathology field! You can find support in the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus http://ashaapicaucus.wix.com/home or https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASHAAPICaucus.