It is extremely important for speech clinicians to recognize that there is no standard cultural group. Each group represents a wide variety of subcultures, depending on the degree of assimilation into the general American culture, the socioeconomic level of the subculture, the geographic location of the subculture, the educational level of the members of the subculture, and so forth. There are also individual family variations within the subculture influenced by the above-mentioned factors. Cultural orientation will only give direction to questions concerning the importance of general cultural influences. The awareness of variability will help prevent cultural stereotyping on the part of the clinician.
Some cultures are extremely private about their family and personal lives.
The clinician should respect this privacy and not discuss such matters if the client is from such a culture. Some cultures protect their children to the point where the child has great difficulty in adjusting to the school setting. A child from one of these cultures might speak very softly, to the point where it is difficult to understand what is being said. This may not be shyness, but rather, a cultural influence carried over from the home. Since various cultures respond to the handicapped in different ways, it is very important for the clinician to know the response of the client's culture to handicapped persons.