Introduction to the special series on culture and SLPs.(From the Guest Editor)

A couple of years ago, at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's annual convention, the topic of cultural intelligence (CQ) was brought up among colleagues who were discussing some of the emerging needs for our profession. Thus, the topic of CQ for Communication Disorders Quarterly (CDQ) was coined. Over the course of a year, several papers had been written with the intention of sharing with the readers of CDQ some recent research and development in the area of CQ. We felt it was essential for professionals in speech, language, and hearing to be culturally competent and socially responsive to the continued changes in our clinical populations. Furthermore, it is paramount to have our radar screen up to detect differences and find solutions to provide quality services.

Carol Westby's article provides a review of the concept of intelligence from different cultural perspectives and explains why the traditional approach to determining "who is smart" is inappropriate for students from culturally/ linguistically diverse backgrounds and inadequate even for determining if mainstream students will be successful in daily living. She describes the concept of "successful intelligence" and makes the connection from successful intelligence to the components of CQ. How can professionals function effectively in a diverse world? Westby also provides some strategies for promoting CQ in her article. This overarching piece lays the foundation for the discussions in this special issue.

CQ can be described across three parameters of human behavior--cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, and physical intelligence. In her article, Shari Robertson provides an overview of the concept of emotional intelligence and its historic and theoretical foundations. This focus provides a lens for examining this very important dimension of CQ. It is paramount that speech-language pathologists and audiologists examine their CQ to provide beneficial services to their clients, regardless of cultural background. Robertson also provides some strategies for developing and implementing skills related to emotional intelligence to enhance clinical competence and cultural proficiency. Indeed, speech-language pathologists who wish to be efficacious as lifelong learners will find this piece very helpful.

We work with individuals from all corners of the world and all walks of life. We also work with individuals with communication disorders across the life span. A better understanding of how we work with children ...