I'm excited about this convention. Its in Chicago and I love Chicago! There's so much to see and do. There are some great restaurants. Can't wait to see my friends and hear the presentations. This year I've decided that I'm going to as many meetings as possible that have to do with Hispanic issues.
I got a call from John Consalvi this past month and we started talking about recruiting more bilingual clinicians. John is President of Bilingual Therapies. He's noticed that it is really difficult to find Latinos in graduate programs. From my perspective it is difficult to recruit Latinos into graduate school if Hispanic students are not encouraged to stay in Speech language pathology courses at the undergraduate level. The undergraduate student is the one that I've seen as the "catch of the day". Every program is out for that Latino student and if a Communication Disorders program doesn‚t do its job in retention, that student will move into another major, one that is more Latino-friendly. So what needs to be done? How do we recruit and retain students at the undergraduate level so that we can recruit at the graduate level? I have some ideas but maybe you have some better ones. Stop by the Bilingual Therapies Booth at ASHA and talk to John about this important issue. He and his staff want to do something and your ideas will be welcomed. Bilingual Therapies is serious about their commitment to recruit and retain bilingual clinicians. They provide scholarships to students at several universities. We really need to see more Latino students completing programs.
I received the Hispanic Caucus newsletter and it had some important information that I'll relay to you. The Hispanic Caucus will be meeting at ASHA at the Hilton Chicago, Friday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. This is a great opportunity to network with other bilingual clinicians and to voice your concerns. If you don‚t get to the meeting you might stop by the Hispanic Caucus Exhibit in the Exhibit Hall. The Caucus will be listed under Multicultural Constituency Groups. And of course, there's Salsa dancing, Friday night at 10 p.m. at Club 720. The dancing is a traditional social event for the group.
The Hispanic Caucus can have fun, but they're also serious about helping new clinicians. There is a mentoring committee that offers assistance to clinicians working with Hispanic/Latino populations. The goal is to provide information, training, advice on appropriate assessment, therapy techniques and strategies and other professional issues. Another committee is the Certification Committee that is investigating ways to assist Hispanic students achieve better on the NESPA. There would be other committees but we need more members.
There are only 42 members in the Hispanic Caucus. Seems to me there are more than 42 bilingual clinicians in ASHA. Hope you‚ll consider joining and volunteering in an area that concerns you. I would love to see the Hispanic Caucus grow to 500. If you‚re not going to the convention and you're interested in joining the Caucus, write Yvonne Calderon, secretary, at yac1006@hotmail.com.
In October I went to Utah State University. I met with a research group looking at preliteracy in Spanish speaking preschoolers. I had a great time talking to the group and learning about their project. What was especially interesting to me was the research site. Salt Lake City, Utah has a large Hispanic population that has developed several communities. The Guadalupe Center started in 1966 by the Catholic Church as a social gathering place for Salt Lake Hispanics. To raise funds they started a Mexican restaurant named La Morena Café. The restaurant provided the funds that initiated Guadalupe‚s educational programs. The Guadalupe Center Educational Programs, Inc. has had programs for adult learners since 1966 and children through the Early Learning Center since 1970. The preschool project (1992) grew out of concern for the children who were not prepared for kindergarden and now the school also offers services to children birth to 3 years. There are about 175 volunteers for this school and it continues to be privately funded. There is funding from the public schools and other agencies. I was so impressed with the commitment of the staff and director of the school. They work with the children all in English. They're considering bilingual schooling for the children in the next year. They're recognizing that these children might benefit from native language instruction.
I'm always so surprised that there are schools like Guadalupe that have existed for years. What is even better is that they‚ve finally realized that educating children in the native language might be OK. Maybe it‚s OK to learn in school in the native language while learning English.
I was happy to see this school and the children. I'm glad that they're going to make a shift in language for the sake of the children. I'm glad that I could support the school by telling them that its OK, it‚s not a total experiment, a first. I‚m glad I visited Utah.
I guess there are still some issues that need to be addressed at the elementary level before we can address the issues of recruitment and retention at the graduate level.
