Disability Models in Clinical Practice
A speech-language pathologist tells a family that their child’s communication difficulties are caused entirely by deficits within the child and that intervention should focus only on fixing those impairments.
What is the medical model of disability?
A child’s speech therapy progress is influenced by the communication style used in their home and interactions with family members.
What is the microsystem?
An SLP notices an increasing number of refugee children entering the school system due to global conflicts and migration patterns.
What is globalization influencing migration patterns?
A hospital policy unintentionally results in fewer speech therapy referrals for children from marginalized racial groups.
What is institutional racism?
A teacher discourages a student from speaking Spanish in school because “English is more professional.”
What is linguicism or linguistic racism?
An SLP working in a school advocates for classroom modifications, teacher training, and environmental supports rather than focusing solely on therapy targeting the child’s impairment.
What is the social model of disability?
A parent loses their job due to economic policies, leading to increased stress at home that affects a child’s communication development.
What is the exosystem?
A clinic must redesign its services because the population it serves now includes speakers of many languages and cultures due to increasing international mobility.
What is changing world demographics?
Children from certain neighborhoods consistently receive fewer educational resources due to housing, schooling, and economic inequalities interacting across systems.
What is structural racism?
A bilingual child is evaluated only in English, and their home language is ignored during assessment.
What is linguistic discrimination in assessment practices?
A clinician analyzes how disability intersects with systemic oppression, racism, and societal structures rather than focusing on individual identity.
What is the Black Disability Political Model?
National immigration policy and societal attitudes toward multilingualism influence how bilingual students are perceived in schools.
What is the macrosystem?
A speech-language pathologist develops telepractice services to support multilingual families living in multiple countries.
What is globalization and technological interconnectedness?
A clinician claims they “don’t see race” and therefore believes racism does not affect their clinical decisions.
What is racial erasure (color-blind racism)?
A school district develops policies allowing children to receive instruction in their home language while learning English.
What are linguistic human rights?
An SLP begins learning about a family’s cultural values and communication styles before designing an intervention plan.
What is cultural humility?
A clinician examines how their own social position, identity, and experiences influence clinical decisions.
What is critical self-reflexivity?