Students at Blackburn Alternative Program had the opportunity to explore speech-language pathology as a career option during a recent presentation from the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Speech-Language Pathology Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee.
Committee members presented to a diverse group of students at the high school, near 26th and Hamilton Streets, said MMI Associate Director Amy Nordness, PhD.
The committee partnered with the school’s speech-language pathology and career exploration teams to reach students who are actively exploring careers after high school.
“It’s an effort to promote the field of speech-language pathology and audiology to those students who are often overlooked,” Dr. Nordness said.
Students engaged in hands-on learning activities, including “decoding” familiar words in phonetics, preparing and tasting thickened liquids, and programming and communicating with the TD Snap software on augmentative and alternative communication devices.
“The students were actively engaged, participated in all the activities, asked thoughtful questions and inquired about how to obtain speech devices to help members of their families,” Dr. Nordness said.
Kia Johnson, PhD, DEI mentor, observed and provided feedback to help better craft the presentation. Dr. Johnsonis associate director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research Satellite in Atlanta, Georgia, through the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a past chair of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing Board of Directors.
The MMI committee is taking feedback on this presentation to revise the content and to prepare for a year-long promotion about a career in speech-language pathology and audiology to high school students at the most diverse high schools within Omaha Public Schools, Dr. Nordness said.
One 2018 study showed that speech-language pathology (SLP) and audiology professions are in the five lowest-scoring health care professions for racial and ethnic diversity. Results from the 2021 ASHA Member and Affiliate Profile reveal that 8.7% of speech-language pathologists (SLP) and audiologists self-identified as a racial/ethnic minority, including 3.6% as Black/African-American, 3.1% as Asian, 1.5% as multiracial, 0.3% as American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.1% as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. In order to improve health care for people of racial and ethnic minorities, MMI is making an intentional effort to increase the diversity of health care professionals in this field by providing early education in a career in SLP and audiology to high school students in order to eventually increase representation of diverse professionals within the field of communication sciences and disorders.
This is just one step in our commitment to increasing diversity in speech-language pathology at MMI.