By: Marva Mount, MA, CCC-SLP, Vice President for Professional Services

By fostering culturally responsive therapy practices, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can create learning environments where students feel valued, respected, and understood. When students see their identities, experiences, languages, and traditions reflected in therapy activities, engagement, trust, and communication outcomes often improve dramatically. As we begin a new school year, how can we infuse culturally rich materials into our therapy sessions?

Why Cultural Representation Matters in Speech-Language Therapy
Culture influences how individuals communicate, interact with others, tell stories, solve problems, demonstrate respect, and participate in learning activities. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) defines cultural responsiveness as understanding and appropriately responding to the cultural variables and dimensions of diversity that individuals bring to interactions. Cultural responsiveness requires ongoing reflection, cultural learning, and adaptation of clinical approaches to meet students' unique needs.

For many students, especially those from historically underrepresented communities, therapy materials may not reflect their families, communities, languages, traditions, or lived experiences. When intervention materials consistently portray only a narrow cultural perspective, students may struggle to connect with targets or may perceive therapy as disconnected from their daily lives. Conversely, using culturally meaningful materials can increase motivation, participation, self-confidence, and generalization of communication skills beyond the therapy setting. It also affects the data we obtain. If we assume students know situations and events presented in therapy when they have never experienced either, their responses may be inaccurate but not for the reasons we expect.

Culturally responsive therapy is not simply about celebrating holidays or displaying diverse images. It involves intentionally incorporating students' cultural knowledge, values, communication styles, and experiences into assessment, goal selection, intervention, and successful family collaboration.

A Practical Framework: ASK, LEARN, ADAPT, REFLECT

ASK families and students about their culture, language, and values.
LEARN from community resources, literature, and professional development.
ADAPT materials and intervention strategies to reflect students’ lived experiences.
REFLECT regularly on personal practices and opportunities for growth.

When SLPs intentionally incorporate students' cultural identities into therapy, they create environments supporting stronger engagement and more meaningful communication outcomes.

Learning About Students' Cultures
Many SLPs serve students whose cultural backgrounds differ from their own. The goal is not to become an expert in every culture but rather to develop cultural humility and establish authentic partnerships with students and families. ASHA emphasizes cultural humility as a lifelong process of self-reflection and learning.

1. Conduct Family Interviews
One of the most valuable sources of cultural information is the student's family.

Questions may include:

• What languages or dialects are spoken at home?
• What holidays and traditions are important to your family?
• What books, stories, songs, or games does your child enjoy?
• What communication expectations exist within your family?
• Are there cultural practices or beliefs we should consider during therapy?

Ethnographic interviewing and family-centered information gathering are recommended approaches for culturally responsive practice.

2. Collaborate with Families as Experts
Families are cultural experts on their own experiences. Invite caregivers to share photos, recipes, music, stories, artifacts, community events, and cultural traditions that may be incorporated into therapy activities. This partnership communicates respect while improving therapy relevance.

3. Learn from Community Resources
SLPs can expand their understanding by engaging with:

• Community cultural centers
• Local libraries
• School multicultural events
• Family engagement nights
• Community leaders and cultural liaisons
• Bilingual staff members

These opportunities help clinicians move beyond stereotypes and gain a more nuanced understanding of diverse communities.

4. Engage in Continuous Professional Learning
Cultural responsiveness is not achieved through a single training. Ongoing professional development, self-reflection, and examination of personal biases are necessary components of effective culturally responsive service delivery.

Practical Strategies for Integrating Cultural Materials into Therapy

Use Diverse Children's Literature
Books provide natural opportunities to introduce vocabulary, narrative skills, inferencing, comprehension, pragmatics, articulation, and language expansion.

Select books that:

• Feature diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds
• Include multilingual characters
• Reflect various family structures
• Highlight traditions and community experiences
• Portray children as capable protagonists

Examples might include stories featuring cultural celebrations, immigrant experiences, Indigenous perspectives, multigenerational families, and everyday experiences from diverse communities.

Therapy Applications

Vocabulary: Teach words connected to family traditions, foods, occupations, celebrations, and community life.

Narrative Language: Compare story structures across cultures and discuss character perspectives.

Social Language: Explore relationships, emotions, cultural values, and problem-solving situations.

Articulation: Use culturally relevant books as contexts for target sound practice.

Incorporate Students' Home Languages
Even when therapy is conducted in English, acknowledging and celebrating home languages supports identity development.

Strategies include:

• Learning greetings in students' languages
• Including multilingual books
• Using bilingual visuals
• Allowing students to teach words from their language
• Encouraging code-switching discussions when appropriate
• Partnering with interpreters and bilingual staff

Research consistently supports the importance of respecting and maintaining children's home languages rather than treating them as barriers to learning.

Use Family- and Community-Based Topics
Replace generic therapy scenarios with contexts that reflect students' lives.

For example, instead of:

• "Going to the ski lodge"

Consider:

• Family cookouts
• Community celebrations
• Places of worship
• Neighborhood events
• Local festivals
• Cultural food preparation
• Family businesses

When therapy activities mirror students' authentic experiences, opportunities for meaningful language learning increase. Students are more likely to discuss their authentic experiences above experiences they have never had.

Include Cultural Storytelling Traditions
Different cultures may organize narratives in different ways. Some storytelling traditions emphasize family history, collective experiences, spirituality, or oral storytelling.

SLPs can:

• Invite students to share family stories
• Record oral histories
• Interview family members
• Compare traditional folktales from different cultures
• Discuss cultural lessons embedded within stories

This approach honors cultural strengths rather than viewing differences as deficits.

Review Therapy Materials for Representation
Conduct a quick audit of your materials.

Ask:

• Do students see families that look like theirs?
• Are multiple cultures represented?
• Are characters portrayed positively?
• Are stereotypes avoided?
• Are multilingual learners represented respectfully?
• Are students with disabilities portrayed as capable and valued?

Purposeful material selection helps create an environment where all students feel recognized and included.

Creating a Culturally Responsive Therapy Environment

Beyond materials, SLPs can create culturally sustaining environments by:

• Displaying multilingual signs
• Using diverse visual supports
• Encouraging students to share their experiences
• Learning and correctly pronouncing students' names
• Respecting different communication styles
• Building strong family partnerships
• Reflecting on personal assumptions and biases

The most powerful indicator of cultural responsiveness is not a specific activity but a mindset of curiosity, respect, and ongoing learning.

Key Strategies for Culturally Responsive Speech-Language Therapy

1. Build Relationships Through Cultural Humility

• Approach families and students as experts on their own experiences.
• Engage in ongoing self-reflection about personal biases and assumptions.
• Recognize that cultural responsiveness is a lifelong learning process rather than a destination.

2. Partner with Families

• Conduct family interviews to learn about languages, traditions, values, and communication expectations.
• Invite caregivers to share stories, traditions, photos, music, and activities that are meaningful to the student.
• Collaborate with families when selecting goals, materials, and intervention activities.

3. Incorporate Culturally Relevant Literature and Materials

• Select books that reflect diverse cultures, languages, family structures, and life experiences.
• Use stories, visuals, and examples that mirror students' backgrounds and identities.
• Ensure therapy materials portray diverse individuals positively and avoid stereotypes.

4. Value and Support Home Languages

• Acknowledge and celebrate students' home languages and dialects.
• Incorporate bilingual books, visuals, and vocabulary when appropriate.
• Work with interpreters and bilingual staff to support meaningful participation.

5. Embed Therapy in Meaningful Contexts

• Use activities connected to students' everyday lives, families, communities, traditions, and interests.
• Replace generic examples with authentic experiences that are familiar to the student.
• Connect communication goals to real-world participation and cultural practices.

6. Honor Diverse Communication Styles

• Recognize that conversational rules, eye contact, storytelling patterns, and interaction styles vary across cultures.
• Avoid interpreting cultural differences as communication deficits.
• Adapt therapy approaches to align with students' cultural norms and preferences.

7. Include Cultural Storytelling and Oral Traditions

• Invite students to share family stories, traditions, and community experiences.
• Use folktales, cultural narratives, and oral histories to target language, narrative, and social communication skills.
• Build upon students' existing cultural strengths and knowledge.

8. Create an Inclusive Therapy Environment

• Display multicultural and multilingual visuals.
• Learn and correctly pronounce students' names.
• Ensure students see themselves represented in therapy materials and the physical environment.
• Promote belonging, respect, and psychological safety.

9. Seek Ongoing Cultural Learning

• Participate in professional development focused on cultural responsiveness.
• Learn from community organizations, cultural events, and local families.
• Stay informed about research and best practices related to culturally responsive intervention.

Benefits of Using Culturally Relevant Books in Speech-Language Therapy

1. Increases Student Engagement

Students are often more motivated to participate when they see characters, families, languages, traditions, and experiences that reflect their own lives. Familiar and meaningful content helps students connect emotionally to therapy activities and discussions.

2. Helps Students Feel Seen and Valued

When therapy materials reflect a student's identity and background, students receive the message that their culture, language, and experiences are important. This sense of belonging can strengthen rapport and foster a positive therapeutic relationship.

3. Supports More Meaningful Language Learning

Students learn language best when new concepts connect to their existing knowledge and experiences. Culturally relevant books provide familiar contexts that make vocabulary, storytelling, inferencing, and conversation skills more meaningful and easier to generalize outside therapy.

4. Strengthens Family-School Partnerships

Books that reflect family traditions, values, and experiences create opportunities for family involvement. Families can share related stories, cultural knowledge, and experiences, helping bridge therapy activities between school and home.

5. Honors Linguistic Diversity

Culturally relevant literature often highlights multilingualism and diverse communication styles. These books help validate students' home languages and support positive language identity while promoting respect for linguistic diversity.

6. Enhances Social-Emotional Learning

Many culturally relevant stories explore themes of belonging, identity, resilience, family, and community. These themes provide rich opportunities to target perspective-taking, emotional vocabulary, self-advocacy, and social communication skills.

7. Expands Cultural Awareness for All Students

Exposure to diverse stories helps students learn about experiences different from their own, promoting empathy, inclusion, and respectful interactions with peers from various cultural backgrounds.

8. Reduces Cultural Bias in Intervention

Using diverse books helps move therapy beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and encourages clinicians to consider multiple perspectives, family values, and communication styles when planning intervention.

9. Promotes Equity and Inclusion

Purposeful representation helps ensure all students have opportunities to see themselves reflected positively in educational and therapeutic materials. This aligns with culturally responsive practice and equitable service delivery principles.

Culturally relevant books help students:

• Feel represented
• Become more engaged in therapy
• Build stronger language and literacy skills
• Connect therapy to real-life experiences
• Develop positive cultural and linguistic identities
• Increase understanding and appreciation of diverse perspectives

Ultimately, culturally relevant literature transforms therapy from simply teaching communication skills to creating an inclusive environment where every student can thrive.

Books Highlighting Diverse Cultures and Family Experiences

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

Culture/Representation: Urban communities, multigenerational family relationships, socioeconomic diversity

Therapy Targets:

• Inferencing
• Vocabulary development
• Perspective taking
• WH- questions
• Sequencing events

Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora

Culture/Representation: Community, generosity, African-inspired illustrations and storytelling traditions

Therapy Targets:

• Story retells
• Describing
• Social-emotional vocabulary
• Predicting outcomes

Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry

Culture/Representation: African American family experiences and cultural identity

Therapy Targets:

• Emotions vocabulary
• Narrative retells
• Problem-solving
• Social communication

Books Celebrating Language Diversity and Bilingualism

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

Culture/Representation: Latino culture, family heritage, identity, multilingual families

Therapy Targets:

• Personal narratives
• Family vocabulary
• Question formulation
• Descriptive language

My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero

Culture/Representation: Mexican American family and community life

Therapy Targets:

• Describing settings
• Vocabulary expansion
• Narrative language
• Compare/contrast

Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina

Culture/Representation: Spanish-English bilingual family relationships

Therapy Targets:

• Language learning discussions
• Sequencing
• Inferencing
• Family vocabulary

Books Representing Indigenous Perspectives

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard

Culture/Representation: Native American traditions, identity, family connections

Therapy Targets:

• Descriptive language
• Categorization
• Vocabulary
• Cultural discussions
• Narrative language

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

Culture/Representation: Indigenous values, environmental stewardship, advocacy

Therapy Targets:

• Figurative language
• Main idea
• Perspective taking
• Expressive vocabulary

Books Celebrating Asian and Asian American Experiences

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang

Culture/Representation: Chinese American family traditions and food culture

Therapy Targets:

• Sequencing
• Problem-solving
• Describing
• Following directions

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho

Culture/Representation: Asian identity, self-esteem, intergenerational relationships

Therapy Targets:

• Descriptive language
• Inferencing
• Emotions
• Self-advocacy discussions

Books Featuring Refugee and Immigrant Experiences

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Culture/Representation: Korean immigrant experience and cultural identity

Therapy Targets:

• Social language
• Perspective taking
• Inferencing
• Story retells

My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald

Culture/Representation: Immigration, adjustment to a new culture and language

Therapy Targets:

• Emotions vocabulary
• Compare/contrast
• Inferencing
• Narrative retells

Books Supporting Understanding of Diverse Family Structures

A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O'Leary

Culture/Representation: Diverse family configurations and experiences

Therapy Targets:

• Describing
• Categorization
• Social communication
• Personal narratives

The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Culture/Representation: Muslim identity, family pride, inclusion

Therapy Targets:

• Perspective-taking
• Social problem-solving
• Character analysis
• Inferencing

Books That Work Well Across Multiple Cultures

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

Culture/Representation: Multicultural school communities, inclusion, belonging

Therapy Targets:

• School vocabulary
• Social language
• Community discussions
• WH- questions

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

Culture/Representation: Celebrates differences and finding connections with others

Therapy Targets:

• Self-expression
• Personal narratives
• Social-emotional learning
• Conversation skills

Questions SLPs Can Ask Families When Selecting Books

• What books does your child enjoy at home?
• Are there stories, folktales, or traditions that are important to your family?
• What languages are used during story time?
• What holidays or celebrations are meaningful for your family?
• Are there cultural values or experiences you would like reflected in therapy activities?

These conversations help ensure that chosen materials are culturally meaningful and personally relevant rather than relying on assumptions about a student's background. Cultural responsiveness emphasizes partnering with families, respecting linguistic diversity, and incorporating students' cultural experiences into intervention.

Professional Resources for Finding Additional Books

• ASHA's Cultural Responsiveness Practice Portal emphasizes understanding and responding to students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds when selecting assessment and intervention materials.
• ASHA's Cultural Responsiveness Series encourages clinicians to learn about students' cultural traditions, preferences, and experiences through active family partnership.

For school-based SLPs, a useful goal is to conduct a yearly "library audit" and ensure that therapy books represent the major cultural, linguistic, and family backgrounds present within the school community. This helps students consistently see themselves reflected in therapy activities while expanding all students' understanding of diverse experiences.

Strategies To Evaluate Therapy Materials for Cultural Relevance

Use the following questions as a "cultural relevance checklist" when reviewing books, visual supports, games, worksheets, videos, and digital resources used in therapy.

1. Evaluate Representation

Ask:

• Do the materials include people from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds?
• Do students see characters that look like themselves and their families?
• Are multiple family structures represented?
• Are individuals with disabilities portrayed positively and authentically?

Students who see themselves represented in therapy materials are more likely to feel included and valued.

2. Check for Authenticity

Ask:

• Was the material created by someone from the culture being represented?
• Does the content reflect real experiences rather than assumptions?
• Are traditions, clothing, foods, languages, and customs portrayed accurately?

Authentic representation helps avoid tokenism and promotes meaningful cultural understanding.

3. Identify Stereotypes or Bias

Ask:

• Are any groups portrayed through stereotypes?
• Are characters presented as individuals rather than cultural caricatures?
• Are cultures depicted only during holidays or special events?
• Are certain groups consistently shown in limited roles?

Materials should reflect the diversity and complexity that exists within cultures.

4. Review Language Representation

Ask:

• Are multiple languages or dialects included respectfully?
• Are bilingual or multilingual characters portrayed positively?
• Does the material validate home languages rather than suggesting they are problems to overcome?

Supporting linguistic diversity is an important component of culturally responsive practice.

5. Examine Relevance to Student Experiences

Ask:

• Can students connect the content to their own lives?
• Are family, community, and daily experiences reflected?
• Does the material include a variety of cultural traditions and perspectives?

The strongest therapy materials connect to students’ lived experiences and background knowledge.

6. Consider Communication Styles

Ask:

• Does the material recognize different ways of communicating?
• Are various storytelling traditions and conversational styles represented?
• Does the resource avoid labeling cultural communication differences as deficits?

Communication expectations vary across cultures and should be respected in intervention materials.

7. Assess Inclusivity of Visuals

Ask:

• Do images portray diverse skin tones, clothing styles, religions, and family structures?
• Are children from different backgrounds shown participating successfully in everyday activities?
• Is diversity integrated throughout the material rather than appearing occasionally?

Visual representation contributes significantly to students' sense of belonging.

8. Gather Family and Student Feedback

Ask families and students:

• "Do you feel represented by these materials?"
• "Are there stories, books, or topics that are important to your family?"
• "What would you like to see included in therapy?"

Families are often the best source for determining whether materials feel culturally meaningful and relevant.

9. Conduct a Diversity Audit

Review your therapy library and estimate:

✅ Diverse cultures represented
✅ Multiple languages represented
✅ Various family structures represented
✅ Positive disability representation
✅ Urban, suburban, and rural experiences represented
✅ Books featuring everyday life experiences from diverse communities

If most materials reflect only one cultural perspective, intentionally seek resources that broaden representation.

Quick "Mirror and Window" Test

A useful rule of thumb when selecting therapy materials:

• Mirror: Does this resource allow some students to see themselves, their culture, language, and experiences reflected?
• Window: Does this resource allow students to learn about and appreciate experiences different from their own?

The best culturally responsive therapy libraries contain both mirrors and windows, helping all students develop communication skills while fostering belonging, empathy, and cultural understanding.

Simple Rating Scale for SLPs

Criteria	Yes	Somewhat	No
Diverse representation	□	□	□
Authentic cultural portrayal	□	□	□
Free of stereotypes	□	□	□
Relevant to student experiences	□	□	□
Supports linguistic diversity	□	□	□
Promotes inclusion and belonging	□	□	□
Encourages family connections	□	□	□

Scoring Guide

• 6-7 Yes = Highly culturally responsive
• 4-5 Yes = Moderately responsive, may need supplementation
• 0-3 Yes = Consider replacing or adapting the resource

This type of rubric can be particularly useful for school-based SLPs conducting annual therapy-library reviews or selecting materials for culturally and linguistically diverse caseloads.

Are your materials culturally responsible? You now have some good ways to effectively evaluate the materials that you use with your culturally and linguistically diverse students.