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