The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2022 - 21

lessons and presented key
considerations for the future.
Among them:
1. SLPs need to partner
with other language
professionals to
meet the needs of
children and adults
with communication
disorders. One
partnership model is to
expand the role of the
interpreter, as is the
case in St. Paul Public
Schools. This raises a
number of questions:
y Can this model
be sustained and
replicated in schools
around the country?
y If so, should the
professional's role be
given a name other than
" interpreter " and have
its own code of ethics?
y What other steps are
needed to establish
professional standards
and support this role?
y Is it ethical for one
person to help gather
information used to
identify a disability
and to also interpret
for meetings when
information is conveyed
to parents? How can
role boundaries and
ethics be negotiated
when schools have
limited resources?
2. Parameters for serving
multilingual children
and adults with
communication disorders
should be established
collaboratively by
professional organizations
representing SLPs and
professional interpreters.
Procedures need to be
incorporated into best
practices guidelines and
www.ata-chronicle.online
supported by education
administration (local, state,
and federal government)
and higher education.
y How can leadership
and partnerships
among organizations
be established and
maintained? In the case
of Minnesota, one of
the partner interpreter
organizations was
dissolved in 2021
due to the pandemic.
How can professional
organizations
for interpreters
be stabilized and
engaged in developing
collaborative practices?
y Through its Dynamic
Duo forums,
practitioners in
Minnesota have
gathered valuable
information about best
practices and identified
challenges. How can the
lessons learned be used
to transform school
policies and procedures?
NOTES
1
2
3. SLPs will always need
to partner with other
language professionals
to meet the needs of an
ever-evolving array of
languages. However,
additional efforts are
needed to recruit bilingual
SLPs representing the
diversity of languages in
the U.S. Do professional
interpreter and translator
organizations have a role in
these recruitment efforts?
The Need for Continued
Dialogue and Collaboration
Interpreters and SLPs
share the common goal
of providing high-quality
services to adults and
children with communication
disorders. State organizations
and school districts in
Minnesota are working
together to identify ways
of meeting this goal within
the ethical confines of each
profession. ATA members
around the country are
encouraged to expand upon
the ideas presented here and
continue the dialogue and
partnership with SLPs.
In the meantime, I
recommend the following
resources:
y Information regarding
careers in speech-language
pathology is available
from the American
Speech-LanguageHearing
Association.
(www.asha.org/careers)
y The EL Companion, Code
of Ethics for Educational
Interpreters and other
resources, such as Somali
and Hmong language
glossaries, are available
through the Minnesota
Department of Education.
(https://education.mn.gov/
MDE/dse/sped/div/el/)
y The Minnesota SpeechLanguage-Hearing
Association
is currently
updating Talk with Me, a
compilation of information
and resources in many
languages developed by
SLPs with assistance from
educational interpreters
(https://mnsha.org/
talk-with-me-manual)
Demographic Profile of ASHA Members Providing Bilingual Services Year-End 2020
(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2021), https://bit.ly/ASHA-demographic.
" Data Reports and Analytics: Student; Languages " (Minnesota Department of Education,
2021), https://bit.ly/MDE-languages.
3
4
" Minnesota Report Card " (Minnesota Department of Education), https://bit.ly/MDE-report-card.
" The English Learner Companion to Promoting Fair Evaluations " (Minnesota Department of
Education, 2021), https://bit.ly/EL-disability.
5
Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for Educational Interpreters of Spoken Languages
(Minnesota Department of Education, 2015), https://bit.ly/EL-disability.
6
" Interprofessional Education/Interprofessional Practice (IPE/IPP) " (American Speech-LanguageHearing
Association, 2021), www.asha.org/practice/ipe-ipp.
Elizabeth Watkins was the state consultant for English learners with disabilities at
the Minnesota Department of Education until her recent retirement. She has always seen
interpreters as integral to the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
She developed state and national resources for English learners with disabilities, including
professional development for special education interpreters at the basic, intermediate,
and advanced levels. She has also championed collaborative professional development,
particularly in the field of speech-language pathology. elizabethwatkins3049@gmail.com
American Translators Association 21

http://www.asha.org/careers https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/sped/div/el/ https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/sped/div/el/ https://www.mnsha.org/talk-with-me-manual https://www.mnsha.org/talk-with-me-manual https://www.bit.ly/ASHA-demographic https://www.bit.ly/MDE-languages https://www.bit.ly/MDE-report-card https://www.bit.ly/EL-disability https://www.bit.ly/EL-disability http://www.asha.org/practice/ipe-ipp http://www.ata-chronicle.online

The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2022

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