Trauma-Informed Care: A Guide for Speech-Language Pathologists in the Schools.

Abstract

Purpose: A history of trauma is significantly related to the likelihood of having a language disorder. Given that one in seven children experience maltreatment in the United States, it is essential that school-based speech-language pathologists are well prepared to engage in trauma-informed practice when working with children and adolescents who have a history of trauma. The primary purpose of this tutorial is to provide an overview of trauma and its relationship to language and to synthesize the extant literature on trauma-informed approaches that could be used by speech-language pathologists. Trauma-informed practices include preventing retraumatization and recognizing trauma responses, creating a safe environment, collaborating with team members, using a strengths-based approach, obtaining a comprehensive case history to guide decisions, and empowering the students by including them in choices.

Conclusion: This tutorial discusses each of these approaches, describes how these approaches could be used in the context of speech-language practice, provides a questionnaire that was developed to obtain the case histories of students with a history of trauma, and illustrates case examples of how trauma-informed approaches might be implemented by speech-language pathologists.