Voice and Communication Therapy for the Transgender/Gender Diverse Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide

Voice and Communication Therapy for the Transgender/Gender Diverse Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide, Third Edition is the first resource of it's kind for speech-language pathologists and voice clinicians who assist transgender/gender diverse clients in developing authentic voices, language, and nonverbal communication congruous with their gender identification. Such challenges for both transfeminine and transmasculine people are far from insurmountable with proper training. This third edition builds on the work of the first two editions and provides for a larger and better informed core of speech language pathologists with the specialized skills to train transgender/gender diverse clients.

Outstanding features include thorough background information on history, sociology, psychology, and medical terminology relevant to this population and the overall role of the voice therapist and speech-language pathologist in the transition of a transgender client. Chapters cover each aspect of a communication training program, including case studies, summaries, appendices and an extensive bibliography.

New to this edition:

• A PluralPlus companion website including "before and after" audio files of communication therapy examples
• A new co-editor, Jack Pickering, brings a fresh perspective and decades of experience in transgender voice and communication
• A chapter addressing the voice and communication needs of transmasculine individuals

This text guides clinicians who work with the population in designing and administering a mindful, focused, and efficient treatment plan. Speech-language pathologists, ENT physicians, and professors within the areas of singing, theatre, and voice disorders will find this text to be a necessary resource.

Richard K. Adler, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, is now retired and a Professor Emeritus from Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN. He has a BA in speech correction from Long Island University, Brooklyn, an MA in Speech/Linguistics from New York University, an MA in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Akron, Ohio, and a PhD in Psycholinguistics and Communication from the Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Dr. Adler's career has spanned nearly 50 years as an SLP in public schools, hospitals, private practice, university teaching, clinical supervision, research, mentoring, consulting, and writing. He has published many articles on such subjects as Teaching, Voice and Communication for Transgender individuals, Voice Disorders, Counseling, and TBI.

Sandy Hirsch, MS, CCC-SLP, is a private practitioner with Give Voice in Seattle, WA. She received her BA in French and Classics with a minor in music (singing) in 1981 from Lancaster University, UK. Following, she pursued a career in theatre and moved to the United States from London in 1982. Ms. Hirsch received her MS in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Washington in 1989. She has been an ASHA-certified SLP since 1990, focusing on voice and neurological disorders. She has practiced in hospital and school settings. For over 25 years, Ms. Hirsch has made voice and communication modification with gender diverse people the focus of her private practice. She is a member of the Ingersoll Transgender Professional Consult Group in Seattle, WA, WPATH, CPATH, the Voice Foundation, the Northwest Chapter of the Voice Foundation, VASTA and WSHLA.

Jack Pickering, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York and speech-language pathologist for Capital Region ENT. For over ten years, he has directed the college's Voice and Communication Program for People in the Transgender Community with Dan Kayajian, MS, CCC-SLP. Jack has been an ASHA-certified SLP since 1984, focusing on the assessment and treatment of voice disorders. He received his BA and MA from the University of Maine, and his doctoral degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences at Ohio University in 1990. His teaching interests include voice disorders, transgender voice and communication, motor speech disorders, and counseling for communication disorders.