SRI-Q allows tracking of global development of speech recognition over time as children progress through a hierarchy of speech perception measures and complements the more detailed assessments obtained from individual tests within the hierarchy.
Purpose The purpose of this review article is to review the progress made in the treatment and education of persons with disabilities in Zambia, to identify barriers that have hindered change and initiatives that have facilitated positive changes in Zambia, and to highlight the initial steps toward the establishment of the profession of speech-language pathology in Zambia. Conclusions There have been remarkable strides in the education of children with disabilities and the establishment of support for persons with disabilities since the Republic of Zambia became an independent nation in 1964. Zambia's limited resources, understanding of disabilities, and cultural and social barriers have hampered efforts to provide special services to children. Despite these challenges, many policies have been adopted and laws passed to protect the rights of those with disabilities, including access to quality equitable and inclusive education programs. Though implementation of the stated ideals has been difficult, and poverty continues in many areas, preparation of special education teachers and inclusion practices has improved. One vital service for children with disabilities, speech/language therapy, remains outside the new provisions. Speech therapy is not currently provided in the schools and is rarely available elsewhere. Though there are currently no Zambian college or university preparation programs for speech therapists, plans to bring speech pathology to Zambia are underway.
Collaboration between professionals is widely recognized as best practice, although in serving students who are deaf/hard of hearing, deaf educators and speech-language pathologists often function in parallel roles rather than in cooperative partnerships. Interactions between graduate students in speech-language pathology and deaf education are explored during a pilot project in which students from separate programs engaged together in online learning activities and in practicum settings. Rather than previous works, which have primarily documented shared content between the disciplines, this project applies a transformative learning model to the development of competencies related specifically to the practice of collaborating. Archives of online live discussions, student discussion boards, interviews with students, videos from shared clinic sessions, and supervisor notes were used to classify areas of student growth. Positive changes were documented in professional disposition as related to the other discipline, confidence in negotiating “role sharing” and “role release” with colleagues, skills in managing multiple tasks and objectives, and broadened skill sets related to the other discipline.
A speech-language pathology master's program that grew out of a partnership between the University of Zambia and a U.S.-based charitable organization, Connective Link Among Special needs Programs (CLASP) International, has just been completed in Zambia. The review of this program is outlined according to the suggested principles for community-based partnerships, a framework which may help evaluate cultural relevance and sustainability in long-term volunteer efforts (Israel, Schulz, Parker, & Becker, 1998).
Approximately 56 countries in the world have speech-language pathology services which are promoted on public websites, The International Directory of Communication Disorders (2016), or The American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association resources (e.g., ASHA, 2016). For the remaining 140+ countries, sources detailing speech-language pathology services and academic programming are not readily available and the status of the profession is unclear. However, recent global efforts have highlighted the lack of rehabilitation services for persons in many countries. This article will review the barriers and solutions for change in locations where services such as speech-language pathology are not available, as well as recent developments that have prompted elevation of the rights of persons with disabilities.
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