• Christine A Maul.
• Department of Communicatve Disorders and Deaf Studies, California State University, Fresno, CA, USA.
• Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2015 Nov 1; 50 (6): 750-62.

BackgroundSpeech and language therapists (SLTs) working in schools worldwide strive to deliver evidence-based services to diverse populations of students. Many suggestions have been made in the international professional literature regarding culturally competent delivery of speech and language services, but there has been limited qualitative investigation of practices school SLTs find to be most useful when modifying their approaches to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students.AimsTo examine perceptions of nine school SLTs regarding modifications of usual practices when interacting with CLD students and their families; to compare reported practices with those suggested in professional literature; to draw clinical implications regarding the results; and to suggest future research to build a more extensive evidence base for culturally competent service delivery.Methods & ProceduresFor this qualitative research study, nine school SLTs in a diverse region of the USA were recruited to participate in a semi-structured interview designed to answer the question: What dominant themes, if any, can be found in SLTs' descriptions of how they modify their approaches, if at all, when interacting with CLD students and their family members?Outcomes & ResultsAnalysis of data revealed the following themes: (1) language-a barrier and a bridge, (2) communicating through interpreters, (3) respect for cultural differences, and (4) positive experiences interacting with CLD family members.Conclusions & ImplicationsParticipants reported making many modifications to their usual approaches that have been recommended as best practices in the international literature. However, some practices the SLTs reported to be effective were not emphasized or were not addressed at all in the literature. Practical implications of results are drawn and future research is suggested.© 2015 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

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