Specialty Certificate in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology: Spanish Language Focus

The University of Redlands Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders offers a Specialty Certificate in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology: Spanish Language Focus. The purpose of this certificate program is to provide graduate students with academic and clinical coursework focused on service delivery to clients who speak Spanish.

While there is currently no accreditation of bilingual specialty training programs by ASHA or the State of California, this training is designed to ensure students who self-identify as bilingual speech-language pathologists meet the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA's) requirements for bilingual service providers: https://www.asha.org/members/self-identify-as-a-bilingual-service-provider/ 

Course Requirements

All requirements are built into our current graduate program and do not entail any additional credits, tuition, or fees.  As part of the 60-credit MS-CDIS program (or 80-credit "grad-plus" program), certificate students must complete one academic course on Spanish language development and disorders in monolingual and bilingual speakers (CDIS 619), and a bilingual clinical placement with Spanish-speaking children (CDIS 649 and/or CDIS 685). Students should also complete an additional academic or clinical course on cultural/linguistic diversity (an on-campus course, CDIS 627, or an additional clinic focused on serving bilingual populations with language disorders and supervised by a bilingual supervisor.

Certificate students complete all of the basic requirements for the Master’s of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology), including 375 direct contact hours with clients who have communication or swallowing disorders. Of those 375 hours, a minimum of 50 contact hours must be with Spanish-speaking children (monolingual or bilingual) with speech and/or language disorders and must be supervised by a qualified ASHA-certified bilingual Spanish-speaking speech-language pathologist (approved by the Bilingual Certificate Coordinator).

Service Hour Requirements

Students must complete 100 service hours with Spanish-speaking children in their regularly scheduled clinical placements. These must be supervised by an approved bilingual SLP, and must consist of a minimum of 50 direct service hours (providing assessment and/or intervention) and additional indirect service hours  (e.g., assessment/intervention planning and data analysis; meetings with parents; IEP meetings; etc.). 

Language Proficiency Requirements

Certificate students must also complete a functional Spanish proficiency exam provided by department faculty immediately prior to graduation. Students may complete all other requirements for bilingual training prior to taking the proficiency test.  Students whose Spanish language skills are not at the "native" or "near-native" proficiency levels required by ASHA may work toward that after completing the program, and obtain the specialized bilingual training while in our program; however, they should not present themselves as bilingual speech-language pathologists unless they meet the ASHA language requirements.

Admissions

Students interested in the Specialty Certificate in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology: Spanish Language Focus should complete the application for admissions to the graduate program in Communication Sciences and Disorders. On the application, please indicate your interest in the program. Once students are admitted to the graduate program, those interested in the bilingual program are identified for course and clinic assignment.

Frequently Asked Questions

For more information about the Specialty Certificate in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology: Spanish Language Focus, please contact Dr. Barbara Conboy, Bilingual Certificate Coordinator at barbara_conboy@redlands.edu. You may also contact Dr. Sol Cooperson at sol_cooperson@redlands.edu or Dr. Maria Munoz at maria_munoz2@redlands.edu.