Transcending:  Working with Transgender Clients

Indiana Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention

Friday April 7, 2006, 12:45 – 2:15 p.m.

 

Constance Dugan, M.A./CCC/BRS-FD

Private Practice, Chicago, Illinois

connie@conniedugan.com  

 

ASHA Code of Ethics:  Individuals shall not discriminate in the delivery of professional services or the conduct of research and scholarly activities on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.

 

Who Am I?

 

Sex

Gender

Orientation

body parts, hormones,  chromosomes

sense of self: male, female, both,  not fitting stereotype

sexual/affectional

attraction

boy/man

male

heterosexual

girl/woman

female

homosexual

intersex

transgender

bisexual

 

Biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation are separate parts of one’s identity.

 

 

 

Terminology is a gold mine and a mine field.

 

The transgender community includes a spectrum of people whose gender identity - their sense of themselves as male or female - differs to some degree from their physical sex.

 

Transsexuals - not to be confused with drag king/queen performers; male to female, female to male, pre-operative, post-operative, non-operative

 

Crossdressers - (formerly called transvestites) usually heterosexual married men

 

Transgenderists - usually men who live full time or on a consistent part time basis as women, do not desire genital reassignment, may want hormones or cosmetic procedures

 

Intersex Persons – (formerly called hermaphrodites), born with chromosomal variations or ambiguous genitalia, often arbitrarily assigned a sex shortly after birth

 

“Always use the proper name for things.  Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”                                                                                                              - Prof. Dumbledore

 

 

Sites Recommended by Individuals Who Identify with the Listed Groups

 

Crossdressers    http://www.triess-alphaomega.org/triess.htm

 

Female to Male Transexuals     http://ftmi.org/

 

Intersex Persons     http://www.isna.org/drupal

 

Male to Female Transexuals     http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses

 

Transgenderists     http://www.firelily.com/gender/gianna/transgenderists.html

 

 

Suggested Reading

 

Our Trans Children    available on line http://www.youth-guard.org/pflag-tnet/

 

 

                                               

 

Some Communication Skills to Consider

When Working with Male to Female Individuals

 

 

 

                        pitch                                        vocabulary and word choice

 

                        range                                      articulation

 

                        stress and intonation            gesture

 

                        intensity                                  posture

 

                        resonance                              grooming                               

 

                        telephone skills                      dress

 

                        vocal stamina                        assertiveness style

 

 

Resource:  voice program by Melanie Anne Phillips who is a M-F Transexual http://heartcorps.com/journeys/voice.htm

 

 

 

 

                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                ©Constance Dugan, 2006