Transgender Education for Healthcare Professionals
Here are places where you can gain transgender education. Learn about the experience of transgender folks and much of the discrimination and inequities they face in the healthcare field. There is no one experience or transition that all transgender individuals face. However, it’s our duty as healthcare professionals to learn what is wrong with our health care system in their treatment of transgender individuals, and here is how we can start.
Founded by Dr. AC Goldberg (he/him), PhD CCC-SLP and Chris Reys-Dupin (he/him), Transplaining is “working to create a safe(r) world for transgender and gender non-conforming youth and adults through education, community conversations and as much empathy as we can safely exert. Transplaining takes an intersectional approach to justice, and believes that all spokes on the wheels of oppression must be addressed to create a society that values all individuals equally.”
- Consultation Meetings
- For Clinicians and Providers: 30 minutes @ $50
- For Camps, Youth Orgs, Churches: 30 minutes @ $30
- Inclusive Materials
- Resource Library
- Courses: Over 50 courses for educators, SLPs, allies, and more including topics of inclusion, trauma, sexual health, cultural responsiveness, biases, and more. They also will review your work to assess bias present in the work. The best part is, they have a monthly subscription for trainings that is only 5 dollars! I just signed up and I can’t wait to dig in and challenge my implicit biases.
I have attended AC’s trainings before, and I always come out learning something new about myself I can change.
Individuals may seek gender affirmation services to make their voice and/or other aspects of their communication congruent with their gender identity and/or gender expression. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) provide expertise in modifying the voice and other aspects of communication. The SLP, in collaboration with the client, assesses a variety of aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication, such as vocal pitch, intonation, voice quality, resonance, fluency, articulation, pragmatics, and vocalization (e.g., laughing and coughing). Studies indicate that a voice that is incongruent with gender identity can negatively impact quality of life, in addition to attracting unwanted attention and greatly impacting safety (Oates & Dacakis, 2015). The SLP demonstrates cultural sensitivity and awareness in communication with the clients and their families. This includes having current knowledge of appropriate, inclusive, respectful, and nonpathologizing terminology. Terminology continues to evolve. It is important to know your client’s name and pronouns, including when to use them depending on the setting or situation. Privacy and safety are of the utmost importance. Clinicians are mindful of potential barriers that influence the client’s day-to-day functioning and their impact on communication.
This page highlights not only the roles/responsibilities of SLPs, but also culturally sensitive topics such as appropriate, inclusive terminology, clinic modifications, and insurance. They alos provide resources on
- Gender-Affirming Voice and Communication Change for Transgender and Gender-Diverse People
- Prohibitions Against Discrimination Under ASHA Code of Ethics
- Reimbursement of Voice Therapy for Gender Affirmation Services
- Resonance Disorders Practice Portal page
- Self-Reflection: Gender Inclusivity [PDF]
- Supporting and Working with Transgender and Gender-Diverse Individuals
- Voice Disorders Practice Portal page
The first page of this site includes things to do and things to avoid. These will help you to be supportive of transgender individuals.
They also have a place for you to Report Media Defamation.
Get in touch with GLAAD:
- Have you or someone you know personally been discriminated against? Share your story with GLAAD.
- Request a media training for your organization
- List of other LGBTQ resources
- Report an offensive media incident below
You can see this as well as resources and the work of GLAAD.
Transgender people face can face an exceptional degree of anxiety and bias in healthcare. A large survey by Lambda Legal revealed that 70 percent of transgender respondents had experienced serious discrimination in healthcare. In a 2011 survey of over 6,000 transgender Americans, 19 percent of the respondents reported being refused healthcare due to their transgender or gender-nonconforming status, with an additional 28 percent having postponed necessary healthcare when sick or injured, and 33 percent having delayed or not sought preventative care because of experiences of healthcare discrimination based on their transgender status. As a report on transgender-affirming hospital policies by HRC and Lambda Legal notes: “From instances of humiliation and degradation to outright refusals to provide care, many institutions – consciously or not – have made it very difficult for transgender people to receive respectful, knowledgeable treatment. The end result often has been disengagement from the health care system that results in poor health outcomes for transgender people: rather than enduring abuse and poor treatment, transgender people often simply do without health care.”
They offer resources on:
- General Information
- Best Practices and Cultural Competency
- Gender Expansive Youth
- Clinical Information
- Transgender-Health Related Videos
The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
They cover
- About Transgender People: Videos about understanding transgender and non-binary people, FAQs, supporting trans people, and bathroom access
- Issues: Aging, anti-violence, employment, families, health and HIV, housing and homelessness, identity documents and privacy, and much more
- Know Your Rights: Rights in a variety of locations including airlines, immigration, homeless shelters, and more
- Self-Help Guides
- Take Action: Protest unjust laws or join an access center,
At academia.edu, you can find research on transgender topics as well as researchers. Some topics include mental health, career, parental acceptance, preferred pronouns, HIV prevention and more. For more evidence-based international research, this is a great place to go. Keep an eye out for the outdated and offensive terms such as “eunuchs” that may be used in other countries, but are unacceptable to refer to transgender individuals.
I hope these transgender education resources are helpful. Make sure to check out my LGBTQIA+ Dictionary for inclusive terminology.
