The Bold SLP Podcast

Jackie Rodriguez and Julisa Chrysafi join us to discuss the world of Bilingual Med SLPs. They share their journeys, their advice for futures SLPs, and their passion for ethical treatment of all patients but especially patients who are from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. We touch on how the lack of representation in our field impacts outcomes for patients and why advocacy and health literacy are such a big part of what they do as Bilingual Med SLPs.

We're joined on this episode by Elaine Nguyen, MS, CCC-SLP (she/her) who came to the podcast to share with us her experience as a first-gen Vietnamese American SLP. She takes us all the way through her journey from undergrad to SLP, retelling stories of moments of cultural mismatch as well as explaining the invisible load of Asian American students & challenges that come along with that load. We also touch on her presence on social media, as she is the creator behind the IG account Embracing Wholeness, a space where she centers mental health for SLPs, women, and mothers.

On this episode we talk about how we managed to pay for grad school - spoiler alert: we all took out student loans… but we each have different relationships with our debt and different strategies. We discuss our individual journeys with personal finances and student debt in the hopes to answer your questions and breakdown the experience for other first generation students out there.

On this episode I (Ingrid) interview my mom: Martha González. Diandra’s episode on the bilingual parenting mental load got me thinking about my own parents and the work they put in in order to raise me & my sister as bilingual children even though they themselves didn’t learn English until later on as adults. This is a conversation that sparked so many memories and realizations for me. I hope you enjoy it! This episode is in English and Spanish.

Diandra Morse joins us today for a critical conversation on how bilingualism and culture intersect in beautiful ways but also how ignoring these intersections can place undue burdens on BIPOC families working to preserve their heritage languages. Diandra Morse, LCSW is a Dominican American Afro Latina Licensed Clinical Social Worker, raised in both the Dominican Republic and New York City. Diandra currently lives in Upstate NY and is raising two bilingual boys alongside her husband, who’s a non native speaker of Spanish. She has over 10 years of experience in trauma treatment, child advocacy, and identifying the social emotional needs of children and their families. Following her passion for supporting children and families, Diandra created Bilingual Playdate, an Instagram account dedicated to parents and educators of bilingual children. Diandra uses her Bilingual Playdate platform to highlight resources available to parents and educators of bilingual children, provide education around language variations and linguistic oppression, and support the intentional use of Spanish indoors and outdoors via Spanish vocabulary cheat sheets and play based ideas. Diandra also co-creates bilingual social emotional learning educational resources with Mikaela Martinez, a Project Based Kindergarten teacher and translates her educational resources to Spanish to increase access to quality educational resources. You can connect with Diandra here: https://www.instagram.com/bilingualplaydate/

Drisana Medina shares her journey from SLPA in California to SLP grad in the Midwest as a Non-traditional First Generation student. This field is for you no matter how you get here!

This episode features a conversation we had with Arynn Byrd, MA, CCC-SLP, a PhD student in Communication Sciences. She joins us to tell us about her doctoral degree experience and to talk about the importance of having the right supports in place to navigate graduate school. Arynn also lays out ideas for finding the right PhD mentor, establishing your network, and how students of color can advocate for themselves in the pursuit of a graduate degree. Reach out to Arynn here: https://www.instagram.com/arynnbyrd/

Join us as we interview and chat with Melanie Y. Evans, MS CCC-SLP (she/her), the Pediatric Speech Sister as she’s known on Instagram. She shared with us how she found speech-language pathology, how she learned to take care of herself, and how she became a Spanish-bilingual SLP. Melanie also talked with us about finding your power as a BIPOC SLP as well as what projects she’s got on the horizon. Connect with Melanie here: https://www.instagram.com/pediatricspeechsister/

In this episode, we interview Dr. María Cioè-Peña, who specializes in sociolinguistics and the intersection between disability and educational policy. Her research "focuses on bilingual children with dis/abilities, their families, and their ability to access multilingual and inclusive learning spaces within public schools." Ingrid and Desi know her as the author of the book "(M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers". This episode is full of insight into the challenges faced by Latinx families whose children are identified as disabled. María Cioè-Peña is an assistant professor in the educational linguistics division at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former bilingual special education teacher, she studies bilingual children with dis/abilities, their families, and their ability to access multilingual and inclusive learning spaces within public schools. Her interests are deeply rooted in political economy, critical dis/ability awareness, and raciolinguistic perspectives within schools and families. Connect with Dr. Cioè-Peña here: https://www.instagram.com/cioepena_phd/ Check out here work here: https://www.mariacioe-pena.com/ Buy her book here: https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/Mothering-Labeled-Children/?k=9781800411272 Access the Spanish translation of her book for free: https://www.mariacioe-pena.com/libros.html

SLP Jordyn Carroll from JRC the SLP walks us through the ways in which we can bring about positive change in our field. She recounts the blatant racism she went through in college and offers practical tips on how ASHA can take steps towards authentic inclusivity. Check out Jordyn’s course here: https://creditsinstitute.thinkific.com/courses/january-2023-confronting-anti-black-racism-in-communication-sciences-and-disorders?fbclid=PAAaZQSJpc60T4w7GsKj0AL7IcM_SKa0AfEcoiP3Veiewa8kGcMzcNKvv9JBI Connect with Jordyn here: https://www.instagram.com/jrc_theslp/ Shop from Jordyn's SLP product line here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JRCtheSLP?ref=shop_sugg

On this episode, SLP Tiffany Vuong shares about her experiences as an Asian-American SLP in the world of early intervention and we venture into an interesting conversation around stigma, culture, and what defines a bilingual SLP. Connect with Tiffany on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkteaspeech/

Dr. Valencia Perry joins us to talk all things equitable school-age language assessment. She shares her amazing insight, knowledge, and resources for all clinicians. Connect with Dr. Perry here: https://www.instagram.com/savvy_slp_dr_vie

We learn so much about the role of SLPs from a different perspective and a different part of the world, we chat with Michelle an SLP in Guatemala.