This conceptual paper critically examines the use of traditional medicalized terminology in speech-language therapy, with a particular focus on the Quebec context. It highlights how current language practices, rooted in a medical model of disability, often marginalize individuals with communication differences such as stuttering, autism, and aphasia by pathologizing these variations. Drawing on contemporary frameworks such as the social model of disability, neurodiversity, and “diversité capacitaire” (a French term that translates to “capacity diversity” or “ability diversity”, emphasizing the richness of diverse abilities and communication styles), the article advocates for more inclusive and empowering language that respects and reflects communicative diversity. The authors emphasize the importance of participatory approaches, including consultation with the communities directly involved and the establishment of terminological committees, to develop respectful and affirming language. Ultimately, this paper calls for a shift in speech-language therapy practices to promote a more inclusive understanding of communication, enabling individuals with communication differences to fully participate in society.

Extensive research has shown that noise has detrimental effects on learning in classrooms, yet schools remain noisy environments. In addition, little is known about the students’ insight into their subjective reaction to noise. Students’ awareness of noise, as well as their perception of its effects on their affective and bodily states, remain unanswered. In the current study, the self-reported experience of noise and reaction towards noise, which was collected by way of a questionnaire, was assessed for 408 students in primary and secondary schools in Québec. Results suggest that about half of the students experience affective and bodily reactions to noise, and students who report having a negative affective reaction to noise are also more prone to report feeling this noise in their bodies. The results of this study offer a comprehensive picture of the students’ subjective (affective and bodily) state in relation to noise in schools.

Context: A range of studies have consistently shown that listeners associate negative psychosocial characteristics to speakers with dysphonia. The reasons why have not formerly been explored. A better understanding of the mechanisms behind this negative stereotype could help to develop attitude-changing measures towards voice disorders. Aim: We want to explore if the negative psychosocial stereotype linked to dysphonia is due to dysphonia’s negative impact on perceived vocal beauty. Methods: A group of naïve listeners was asked to listen to female voice samples with varying degrees of dysphonia according to the Grade (G) of the GRBAS scale, and then to rate the perceived degree of vocal beauty for each voice on a visual analogue scale. They were also asked to infer personal characteristics of each speaker on a set of 21 Bipolar semantic scales. Results: Mediation analyses showed that G significantly and negatively predicts perceptions of vocal beauty (p < .001) and that vocal beauty in its turn was significantly and positively predicting inferences of negative psychosocial characteristics in the speakers (p < .001). When vocal beauty was partialled out, the negative impact of G was diminished or even cancelled. Conclusion: Our results show that in female speakers, the negative impact of dysphonia on the attribution of speakers’ personal characteristic is explained by the negative impact of dysphonia on perceived vocal beauty. Our results support the hypothesis that the beauty stereotype underlies the negative biases existing towards dysphonic speakers. We suggest that clinicians should be aware of this mechanism when promoting awareness about dysphonia.

Context: We explored the relation between work related factors, health practices, personality traits and stress-coping strategies and self-reported voice problems in a population of 354 student teachers (ST), 344 professional teachers (PT), 147 student nurses (SN) and 104 professional nurses (PN). Method: An online survey was conducted. Beside an anamnestic questionnaire to collect data about voice problems, work environment, health practices the VHI-10 was used to quantify voice symptoms, the Big Five-10 to explore personality traits, and the WCC-27 to explore stress coping strategies. Results: The prevalence of self-reported voice problems was significantly higher in ST as compared to SN (23% vs 14%, p = 0.025) and in PT versus PN (24% vs 12%, p = 0.08). VHI scores were significantly higher for subjects self-reporting a voice problem and significantly higher in the professional than the student groups, with PT with self-reported voice problems having the highest scores (Mean = 22.34 SD = 0.635) p<0.001. An ANOVA shows that 55% of the variance of the VHI scores is explained by the status of the subject (ST/PT/SN/PN), (F(3,945) = 382.156, p<0.001). A linear regression shows that 43% of the variance of the VHI scores was explained by Amount of private voice use, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Emotion centered coping scores (F(4,830) = 159.201,p<0.001).

Background: The health measures imposed by COVID-19 on workplaces created adverse communication settings. Our cross-sectional study aimed to document the nature and severity of the vocal difficulties experienced by educational professionals a few weeks after the implementation of health measures in schools and early childhood settings in Quebec, Canada while teaching in class. Methods: To this end, we conducted a self-report survey containing nine close-ended questions and one open-ended question regarding self-reported vocal difficulties and the implementation of health measures. The survey was answered by 194 educational professionals in October 2020. Results: Since the introduction of the health measures, respondents reported often or always: having difficulty making themselves heard (66.5%), needing to strain their voice (68.1%), having throat pain after work (38.1%), and being concerned about their vocal health (25.2%). 35.6% perceived that their voice changed moderately or a lot and 75.3% did not feel equipped to take care of their vocal health. Fisher's exact tests revealed the difficulties overall were more present in women (p < 0.05). Discussion: The qualitative analysis of open-ended question answers shows a circular process at play, where the vocal responses to the COVID-19-induced communication barriers contribute to creating more problematic communication settings, thus increasing the challenges for vocal health. Better equipping the professionals to take care of their vocal health by developing resources in their professional settings to help them face vocal challenges in both every day as well as extreme situations, should be a priority.