The summer has commenced with graduation parties and moving projects. I saw my last 4 bilingual students graduate and then gave them a book to read and think about. "Drink Cultura" is a very funny and yet insightful look at life among Mexican Americans. There is so much to do this summer and so much to think about for the fall.
I hope you are planning to be in Puerto Vallarta on August 1 for the 2nd Bilingual Symposium. It will be interesting and of course fun as only a symposium can be in Puerto Vallarta. I'm looking forward to hearing the other presentations and also hearing the conversations among the bilingual clinicians who come from all over of the country. It is an exhilarating experience to hear clinicians talking about their work, clients, the problems, challenges, and the victories.
What I like to do when I arrive in Mexico is explore the town, markets, and ride the busses. I love watching the children as they play and talk with their siblings. I especially love the plazas, where people sit, talk, or walk around looking at everyone else. The artisans and musicians usually have a place to show off their talents. And of course everywhere, there is food, simple, spicy, and delicious. I really enjoy the mixed fruits that are peppered with spices. I was hoping to stay a month and take some Spanish language courses. But time just wasn't on my side. So I'll stay a week and visit the museums and take some tours. But there are a few language schools there if you think you might like to take advantage of the visit. Taking a few courses such as dance, music, and literature are great in this type of environment. You meet people from all over the world who are learning Spanish. A couple of years ago I met people from Britain, Japan, and Germany who were in Guanajuato, Gto. Mx. learning Spanish. It was fun.
If you don't make the trip to Mexico, try working on your Spanish this summer in a creative way. I received a note from a friend who lives in Minnesota. She's a bilingual clinician who has organized a bilingual SLP group. They meet in the summer to practice their Spanish skills. This is a great way to develop a group's bilingualism! Last year they had a Latino physician train them for a week on medical terminology. This year I sent them some videotapes and handouts of bilingual clinicians in the El Paso-Las Cruces area that presented to health and school professionals in Juarez, Mexico. The topics they presented included language development-disorders, articulation/phonology development-disorders, traumatic brain injury, stuttering, AAC, swallowing disorders in children, and inclusion of special needs children in the regular classroom setting. The clinicians did a great job of presenting to this monolingual-Spanish group of professionals who wanted very much to hear what American clinicians do with a variety of speech/language disorders.
The issue of proficiency continues to be discussed among clinicians, either because its important to maintain proficiency, or they want to be recognized for the special skills or because it is a way to receive additional compensation for the work in the workplace. New Mexico has over 75 bilingual clinicians, including Native American, French, and Spanish speaking. For such a small state they are working on State recognition.
Clinicians in New Mexico have been working toward a Bilingual endorsement since 1998. Key people across the state have worked in developing guidelines and finally a House Joint Memorial sponsored and led by the State president, Christine Vining, Navajo-English bilingual reached Santa Fe, the state capital. The Memorial passed the House but died on the Senate floor because there were over 300 memorials to be reviewed. The work is not finished and the NMSHA Diversity Committee, committees from Albuquerque and Las Cruces Public Schools will proceed in the coming year.
There are so many issues related to this endorsement and clinicians have only begun to recognize the diversity in the beliefs and attitudes of the clinicians in this state. Should there be an endorsement for bilingual clinicians only? Should there be something inclusive of clinicians who work with bilingual clients and have training in working with that specific population? For example the monolingual clinician who comes from a special training program specializing in multicultural populations may want an endorsement. Should there be a special endorsement for clinicians who collaborate with and train interpreters? What about proficiency levels of clinicians who are not native speakers of the 2nd language? Who does the testing, and what is a sufficient level for this endorsement? How does the school district recognize this endorsement and will they provide incentives for being bilingual? What happens if SLP's get a state endorsement and the bilingual psychologists, who may not have an endorsement, demand to have the pay incentives because they also provide bilingual assessments and treatment? I can see where school districts may not be excited about recognizing a new endorsement. It would definitely be expensive and definitely cause some division among a variety of professionals.
Work on the Spanish, work on the endorsements, and somehow the issues will be addressed depending upon the needs of the region. If there are committed and proactive clinicians who want this recognition, then there is a way to resolve, compromise, and diffuse these issues. These are a few things to think about during the summer.
