Name
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)About
Location
MarylandOrganization/Facility
Health CareWebsite
ASHAExploring Cultural Responsiveness: Guided Scenarios for Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) Professionals
Initiative Categories
Focus Areas
- Age Equity
- Cultural Responsiveness
- Deaf/Hard of Hearing
- Dialect
- Gender
- Language access/inclusion
- LGBTQIA+
- Mentoring
- Multilingualism
- Neurodiversity
- Race/ethnicity
- Religion/Faith based practice/spirituality
- Socioeconomic status
- Trauma Informed Care
Summary
Exploring Cultural Responsiveness is a book and an e-book published in 2020 by ASHA Press.
The idea for this book originated with ASHA's Multicultural Issues Board (MIB). The MIB comprises 12 ASHA members, one National Student Speech Language Hearing Association representative, a Board of Directors liaison, and an ASHA staff ex-officio. The Board's aim was to create an accessible resource to assist audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and communication sciences and disorders (CSD) professionals in considering the whole individual and any factors in their background that may pertain to maximizing service delivery outcomes.
The resource contains more than 30 guided scenarios inspired by the real-life experiences of the MIB members. The scenarios explore how factors such as race, gender identity, disability, religion, age, and sexual orientation can affect the provision of appropriate, individualized services. The reader is encouraged to engage with their own emotional responses and to consider the impact of any implicit or explicit bias towards certain groups. Each scenario is accompanied by
- a series of critical thinking questions designed to help the reader think through the case,
- commentary which presents different perspectives and outlines evidence-based resources and best practice,
- suggested responses to the questions, and
- key takeaways.
The scenarios are designed to expose the reader to a wider range of experiences than they are likely to have encountered in their own practice; thus they are provided with an opportunity to think through unfamiliar situations and a level of preparedness to address situations in the future. The reflective questions and evidence-based resources allow practitioners to explore situations that may be uncomfortable and be better prepared to respond in the moment. Throughout, practitioners are encouraged to recognize the importance of responding to the whole person in providing appropriate service delivery.
Content development was led by Alicia Fleming Hamilton, MS, CCC-SLP, with co-editors Carmen Ana Ramos-Pizarro, PhD, CCC-SLP; Jean Franco Rivera Pérez, PhD, CCC-SLP; Wendyliza González, MS, CCC-SLP, TSSLD-BE; and Karen L. Beverly-Ducker, MA, CCC-A, CAE. All the MIB members at that time contributed scenarios and acted as peer reviewers. ASHA staff created the cover design and layout and provided project management and production support.
As well as individual purchase, the book has been adopted for university courses, helping to educate the next generation of professionals. Selected scenarios have been adapted into a micro-course series and another scenario forms the basis of Marrying Cultural and Clinical Practices: Adapting Clinical Practices to be Inclusive of Cultural Beliefs for ASHA's That's Unheard Of website.
For More Information
See the ASHA's online store or contact Catharine Gray at cgray@asha.org.
This initiative was updated on January 9, 2026.