Date: Saturday, October 19, 2002
To: erinburns@jnashc.org
From: ahkamai@oxychem.com
Subject: Thank you

Dear Erin,

Thank you for responding so quickly to my email. I feel much better about Thani attending therapy after you explained what was going to take place during these initial meetings. I appreciate your understanding of me trying to get a better idea of why this initial needs assessment is so important. At first, I just wanted his therapy to hurry up and begin and didn’t see the rationale behind all of these initial assessments. Now, I realize that first assessing Thani’s needs is important because it helps determine what he, as a learner, wants and needs to learn. If the content of the therapy sessions, materials, and your teaching approaches accurately match my husband’s needs, then his motivation to learn and success in oral communication therapy will be greatly enhanced. I think I really get it, Erin.

Many thanks,

Ahka Mai

Date: Friday, October 18, 2002
To: ahkamai@oxychem.com
From: erinburns@jnashc.org
Subject: Re: Thani’s evaluation

Dear Mrs. Mai,

Although it is not a traditionally recognized role of a speech language pathologist, I told Mr. Walters (the OxyChem manager) that I am willing to provide elective clinical services to non-standard English speakers, such as Thani, who do not present a speech or language disorder. I’m actually very excited to work with a client like Thani because I feel that I will really learn a lot from this experience. Learning about different cultures and languages has always been a passion of mine! To my knowledge, Mr. Walters referred Thani to the JNA Speech and Hearing Clinic because he presented difficulty understanding others’ speech, pronouncing certain English words, and engaging in effective communication with his fellow employees. Therefore, this already gives me some information about the areas of language that present problems to your husband. The purpose for conducting a needs assessment is so that I may gain a clearer focus of what areas to target in Thani’s upcoming therapy. The needs assessment will begin with a personal interview where I ask Thani specific questions about his communication goals. I will then administer several corresponding informal tests that will give me an indication of how well Thani is currently meeting these goals. For example, if one of Thani’s main communication goals is to improve his oral presentation skills or participation during meetings, I would then direct my focus for therapy on these particular goals. I will be happy to go into greater detail about these tests if you’re interested. I understand that you are very concerned about your husband succeeding in therapy. I can assure you that if Thani possesses a positive attitude along with a willingness to learn and cooperate, therapy will provide great benefit to his oral communication skills. Therefore, in response to your question, the particular oral communication goals that Thani and I will work on in therapy will depend greatly upon the results of the upcoming needs assessment. Initially assessing Thani's needs provides information to both him and I about what skills he brings to therapy, and about what he wants and needs to know for future communicative success. I hope this information is not confusing to you and provides some clarification about my role in the needs assessment process. Any further questions or concerns you may have are always welcomed. Just because you are not my actual client, does not mean that you do not play an integral role in the therapy process. Never hesitate to call or email me with your questions or concerns about your husband's progress in therapy or about my role in his therapy.

Sincerely,

Erin E. Burns
M.A. CCC/SLP
Speech Language Pathologist

Justice, Nichols, and Ash Speech and Hearing Clinic
541 Emmons Ave. Suite 5-B
Buffalo, New York 14222
(716) 873-8656

Date: Friday, October 18, 2002
To: erinburns@jnashc.org
From: ahkamai@oxychem.com
Subject: Thani’s evaluation

Dear Erin,

I am writing this email concerning my husband, Thani Mai. I just wanted to let you know that he came home from the speech language evaluation you did on Monday morning with a smile from ear to ear. I know that sending him to you gave him just the boost of confidence he needed. He told me that he’s happy he’ll be receiving help for his pronunciation problems and difficulties in understanding others’ during conversations. He was also glad that you reassured him that his dialectal variety of English was not a disorder or a pathological form of speech or language. Thani and I are both very proud of our dialect because it is something that we can always carry with us from our native homeland, Thailand. However, as new residents in the United States, we both realize that we are often considered incompetent due to our non-standard production of the English language. My pronunciation and communication skills seem to be better than Thani’s, but this could be attributed to the fact that I learned to speak English many years before Thani did, and also, because the people at my new workplace often help me learn how to correctly say unfamiliar English words. My employees also speak very slowly and clearly to me. It seems the employees at OxyChem have more important priorities than helping Thani to communicate more effectively with them. I can’t really blame them, though, because those people have a job to do and may not have extra time to help him. I guess that is where you come in to help him. It may sound stupid in asking you this, but what are you going to do to help my husband? I can honestly say that I’ve never come into contact with a speech language pathologist before, so I am unsure about what you’re going to do during your meeting times. Thani said that when you meet with him this coming week, you will be doing something called a needs assessment evaluation. What is this? Sometimes, Thani is shy about answering certain personal questions, so if you need me to answer them or accompany him to the evaluation, I would be happy to do so at any time. I hope you don’t mind me asking the details about what you’re going to be doing with Thani. I am not trying to be nosy. I am just concerned about my husband and want this therapy to be successful. Just know that Thani’s family is very supportive of him going to therapy and we’re all willing to help you or him in any way possible. I, along with the rest of our family, know how crucial this therapy is to Thani’s job and whether or not we get to stay here in the U.S. after this year. If you could email me back soon, it would be much appreciated. Thank you!

A concerned wife,

Ahka Mai