Challenges and Opportunities
This week I spoke to Jeff Helwig, the VP
for Bilingual Therapies. We were talking about the challenges
that bilingual clinicians have in the public schools and how they're
tired. I can understand the challenges that confront clinicians
when the "public school system" does not want to budge
from the bureaucracy, red tape, belief systems, and "culture"
of the district. I guess I could add "ignorance about children
who come from homes that speak another language." This hindrance
sometimes makes it difficult to pick up our heads to get some
sunlight, or see what is good for children, so that we can improve
our services to children. Sit up, take a deep breath, and look
up. There's more to do when it comes to helping children who are
second language learners. We can't get ourselves into a rut and
ignore that there is more to do.
This is my last article for Bilingual Therapies. I didn't know
what to say in this last paper. I look back at the 4 years of
these short thought papers and I hoped that I could encourage,
challenge, and be a resource to clinicians. I hope that the challenges
clinicians face today are not as bad as they were maybe 10 years
ago. I know that I wouldn't be surprised if I heard that a child
was reprimanded for speaking Spanish in the classroom, or that
a bilingual clinician was told that she/he could not provide therapy
in Spanish because English is the language of the school building.
I still feel that the challenges are there. But what we do with
challenges is between our ears. We can think that they are insurmountable
or we can plan a course of action to make changes for the children
and families that we serve. We can try one plan, and if it doesn't
work, we can try something else. There will always be barriers,
but they are also opportunities for us to operate on another level.
I like to think of it, as the high road.
I remember when I started applying for graduate school and I
told my advisor that I wanted to work with bilingual children.
My advisor told me that I probably should not consider graduate
work because I would not be capable of keeping up with the graduate
students who came into the program. I saw that as a challenge,
but I'm grateful that I didn't listen to the advisor. I saw this
as an opportunity for me to do my best, to follow my dreams, and
to achieve in areas that I wanted to explore.
I think that bilingual children are told daily, that they're
not capable to keep up with the other students in their classrooms.
Parents are told that their children are not learning as quickly
or as well as the other students. We have a tremendous challenge
when we hear about these "messages" that are sent to
our Latino children. How are you going to meet the challenge?
Or, do you feel that maybe this is a tremendous opportunity to
help teachers and administrators understand that Latino children
can learn two languages, can be bi-literate, can learn to achieve
in the classroom, and that parents can help through teacher-parent
partnerships.
There is still so much to learn. There is still so much to do.
Don‚t get too comfortable.
Next year the ASHA convention will be in San Diego. I plan to
be there. Make plans and be there. If you should see me, I hope
that you'll drop by and say hello to me. I hope that you'll drop
me a line via email when you hear of something good happening
concerning programs with Latino children, parents, or with bilingual
clinicians. I need to be encouraged also! HK
Hortencia G. Kayser,
Ph.D.
Professor
Saint Louis University
314-977-2941
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