35th Annual Student Research Conference
The Journey to True Voice: How Family and Community Support Impacts Transgender Individuals' Willingness to Pursue Voice and Communication Therapy
Quin M. Quintana
Dr. Ilene Elmlinger, Faculty Mentor
The overall goal of VAC therapy is to help clients adapt their voice and communication patterns in a way that is congruent with their gender identity or gender expression. Access to gender affirming care is one of the most important factors for a transgender individual’s quality of life, but previous studies on the effectiveness of VAC therapy have relied on testimonies from transgender individuals who come from supportive backgrounds and have thus assumed that access to such services are universal to the transgender community as a whole. The goal of this project is to explore the impact of family and community support on an individual’s willingness to pursue gender-affirming VAC therapy, and how changes in supportive dynamics can influence one’s desire to seek out vocal training. An electronic survey will be administered to collect responses about models of support, perceived levels of support, and desire to pursue VAC therapy.
Keywords: Vocal Training, Transgender, Communication, Support, Speech-Language Pathology, LGBTQ+
Topic(s):Communication Disorders
Psychology
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 304-3
Location: SUB GEO C
Time: 1:45