Abstract
School speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are increasingly likely to serve children of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) parents or GLBT students as cultural and societal changes create growth in the population and increased willingness to disclose sexual orientation. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has a progressive nondiscrimination statement that includes sexual orientation as a protected status and strongly urges the membership to develop cultural competence as a matter of ethical service delivery. The purpose of this article is to describe cultural competence in relation to GLBT culture, discuss GLBT parent and student cultural issues as they are important in parent-school or student-school relations, and to provide suggestions for increasing sensitivity in these types of interactions. A list of resources is provided.
Sexual Orientation Beliefs
