Mother tongue as a universal human right

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right to freedom of opinion and expression. UN Resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". This resolution has particular relevance for minority language groups where mother tongue - so vital to self-expression - is primarily a spoken medium, often ascribed low status. With few fluent readers and writers, and a consequent dearth of written resources, a vicious circle develops and linguistic and cultural heritage erodes. Not all governments are vigilant with appropriate policies and funding. Even in a community like Shetland, where there is no class connotation associated with speaking Shetlandic, the proportion of fluent dialect speakers is now relatively small. It therefore falls to the writer to create resources for children, to help stem the tide. Engaging in translation can also help raise the status of dialect and pinpoint the somewhat arbitrary distinction between dialect and language. There are many problems in publishing in minority tongues; for example, uneconomic print runs, language authenticity versus contemporaneity, standardisation of orthography and the trend to "exotic-ise" dialect in mainstream literature.

Bilingualism, a human right in times of anxiety: Lessons from California

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers to the individual's right of expression without interference, "through any media and regardless of frontiers". Currently, in some nations across the world, there is decreasing interest in cross-cultural interactions and a new interest in nationalism and assimilation, in communication within frontiers and in a specific medium: the national language. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) advocate for individuals with communication disorders that interfere with their comprehension and expression. The profession promotes communication as a human right. Unfortunately, many clients and their families continue to report instances in which we, SLPs, limit their human right of expression by ignoring their home languages and recommending the exclusive use of the national language. Real progress requires reflection and action on language policy. In 1998, Californians passed Proposition 227, which eliminated bilingual public education. Then, in 2016, California voters approved Proposition 58 allowing the creation of multilingual and biliteracy programs. A discussion about the presentation of these two propositions to the public may hopefully help bilingual SLPs and advocates protect our multilingual clients' human right of expression in these times of anxiety.

The positioning of Aboriginal students and their languages within Australia's education system: A human rights perspective

This paper is a critical review of past and present languages policies in Australian schooling. We highlight the One Literacy movement that contravenes the human rights of Australia's Aboriginal students. This in turn impacts students' right to freedom of opinion and expression as stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The One Literacy movement operates by equating Standard Australian English literacy acquisition with Australia's global competitiveness and economic success. There is only one pathway through the Australian English curriculum with common assessments and standards. However, the Australian Curriculum provides three distinctive pathways when students from an English-speaking background learn languages other than English. We reveal this double standard, where current educational policies prioritise the languages of trade (e.g. Chinese) and accommodate speakers of these languages. Meanwhile Aboriginal-language-speaking students are not provided with the same accommodations. For educational equity, there should be a distinctive English language learner pathway that recognises that the majority of remote Aboriginal students from the Northern Territory are learning English as an additional language. We advocate for these changes because all children have a right to an appropriate education that will enable them to flourish as learners and citizens.

The Stakeholder Model of voice research: Acknowledging barriers to human rights of all stakeholders in a communicative exchange

The act of communication is a complex, transient and often abstract phenomenon that involves many stakeholders, each of whom has their own perspective: the speaker, the listener, the observer and the researcher. Current research practices in voice disorder are frequently framed through a single lens - that of the researcher/clinician or their participant/patient. This single lens approach risks overlooking significant barriers to the basic human right of freedom of expression for those with a voice disorder as it omits consideration of the impact of voice disorder on the listener, and consideration of the wider impact of the voice in the occupational context. Recent research in the area of voice has developed a multiple lens and subsequent Stakeholder Model that acknowledges the experience and reality of multiple stakeholders viewing the same phenomenon, the voice. This research paradigm is built on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it considers the realities of all stakeholders in forming a deeper understanding of the causality, impact and aspects of communication disorder. The Stakeholder Model will be presented as a suggestion for future investigations of communication disorders more widely.

From individual to global: Human rights and aphasia

This commentary marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by examining Article 19 and its application to people with aphasia. This group of people still face lack of access, stigmatisation, exclusion, disadvantage and social withdrawal as well as poor public awareness of aphasia and inadequate prioritisation of support and resources. Nevertheless, a range of creative initiatives at individual, healthcare, local community, national and global levels have helped to connect and empower people with aphasia. Such initiatives include provision of accessible information in a range of media, inclusion of people with aphasia in decision-making and as research partners, awareness raising campaigns to counter attitudinal barriers, organisation of community aphasia groups, development of guidelines for best practice, national aphasia associations and international collaborations such as Aphasia United. While ongoing work and resourcing is needed to expand these efforts further, they have helped people with aphasia to be heard and to protect their sense of dignity which underlies human rights. A human rights approach can unite, politicise and refocus these efforts, and highlight the essential role of communication in fostering a better quality of life.

Communication rights: Fundamental human rights for all

The right to communicate includes the right to "freedom of opinion and expression" and rights and freedoms "without distinction of … language". The 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a time to celebrate and reflect on communication as a human right, particularly with respect to Article 19 and its relationship to national and international conventions, declarations, policies and practices. This review profiles articles from the special issue of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (volume 20, issue 1) addressing communication rights from four perspectives: (1) communication rights of all people; (2) communication rights of people with communication disabilities; (3) communication rights of children and (4) communication rights relating to language. Divergent perspectives from across the globe are considered. First-hand accounts of people whose right to communicate is compromised/upheld are included and perspectives are provided from people with expertise and advocacy roles in speech-language pathology, audiology, linguistics, education, media, literature and law, including members of the International Communication Project. Three steps are outlined to support communication rights: acknowledge people - adjust the communication style - take time to listen. Future advocacy for communication rights could be informed by replicating processes used to generate the Yogyakarta Principles.

Upholding the human right of children in New Zealand experiencing communication difficulties to voice their needs and dreams

New Zealand Ministry of Education's proposal for an updated service to support children experiencing communication difficulties provides an opportunity to consider the essential criteria required for children to express their opinion, information and ideas as outlined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This commentary begins with a summary of key policies that provide strategic direction for enhancing children's rights to be actively involved in the development of services designed to support them and to communicate and participate in inclusive environments. The authors use a human rights lens to inform the development of speech-language pathology services that facilitate individuals' contribution and engagement and are responsive to their needs. A review of international literature describing the lived experience of children and young people identifies key factors related to accessible information, service coordination, holistic practice, and partnerships that facilitate co-constructed understanding and decision-making. The commentary concludes with suggested recommendations for structuring services, establishing partnership models, and capability building.

Acoustic environments that support equally accessible oral higher education as a human right

PURPOSE

People have the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as defined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Higher education plays a major role in helping students to develop and express their own opinions and, therefore, should be equally accessible to all. This article focuses on how students judge the accessibility to oral instruction in higher education listening contexts.

METHOD

We collected data from 191 students in higher education by means of a questionnaire, addressing understanding speech in different types of classrooms and various educational settings.

RESULT

In lecture halls, understanding speech was judged to be significantly worse than in smaller classrooms. Two important negative factors were identified: background noise in classrooms and lecture halls and the non-use of a microphone.

CONCLUSIONS

In lecture halls students achieve good or excellent speech perception only when lecturers are using a microphone. Nevertheless, this is not a standard practice. To achieve genuine inclusion in tertiary education programs, it is essential to remove acoustic barriers to understanding speech as much as possible. This study is a first step to identify communication facilitators to oral higher education instruction, for students with hearing loss or communication impairment.

Using Twitter to access the human right of communication for people who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

PURPOSE

Articles 19, 26 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 4, 9 and 21 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promote the human rights of communication, education, use of technology and access to information. Social media is an important form of online communication, and Twitter increases users' visibility, influence and reach online. The aim of this sociotechnical research was to determine the impact of teaching three people who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to use Twitter.

METHOD

Three participants were trained in ways of using Twitter strategically. Data collected from participants' Twitter profiles were examined to determine the impact of training on Twitter follower count, frequency of tweeting, tweet content and the development of social networks. Data were also examined using (1) KH Coder software analysis and visualisation of co-occurring networks in the text data, based on word frequencies; and (2) Gephi software analysis to show the Twitter network for each participant.

RESULT

Two participants showed an improvement in Twitter skills and strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Twitter can be used to improve social connectedness of people who use AAC, and should not be overlooked in relation to communication rights.

Advancing the human rights of children with communication needs in school

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. However, due to difficulties in communicating, children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are at particular risk of not being heard. Although it is recommended that children with SLCN can and should be actively involved as equal partners in decision-making about their communication needs, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can lose sight of the importance of supporting communication as a tool for the child to shape and influence choices available to them in their lives. Building these skills is particularly important for SLPs working in mainstream educational contexts. In this commentary, the authors argue the need for a shift in emphasis in current practice to a rights-based approach and for SLPs to take more of an active role in supporting children with SLCN to develop agency and be heard. We also present some concepts and frameworks that might guide SLPs to work in a right-based way in schools with this population.

Protecting the human right to freedom of expression in international law

Since its inclusion in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to freedom of opinion and expression has been protected in all of the relevant international human rights treaties. In international law, freedom to express opinions and ideas is considered essential at both an individual level, insofar as it contributes to the full development of a person, and being a foundation stone of democratic society. Free speech is a necessary precondition to the enjoyment of other rights, such as the right to vote, free assembly and freedom of association, and is essential to ensure press freedom. However, there is a clear and worrying global trend, including in western democracies, of governments limiting vibrant discussion and debate within civil society and among civil society, political leaders and government. Two examples illustrate this trend. First, anti-protest laws in Australia and the United States threaten the ability of people to stand together and express views on issues they care deeply about. Secondly, metadata retention laws jeopardise press freedom by undermining the confidentiality of journalists' sources and dissuading people from speaking freely on matters of public importance.

Social participation for people with communication disability in coffee shops and restaurants is a human right

Although Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has a right to freedom of opinion and expression", for people with communication disability this may not be a reality. This commentary shares a practical example of how people with communication disabilities together with speech-language pathology (SLP) students, academics and clinical staff co-designed and co-implemented a Communication Awareness Training Programme for catering staff to enable communication access in coffee shops and restaurants. This is an example of how SLPs can embrace their social responsibility to break down barriers for people with communication disabilities. This commentary shares the reflections of those involved and how they felt empowered because they had learned new skills and made a difference. This commentary highlights the need for co-design and co-delivery of programs to raise awareness of communication disability among catering staff and how the stories of people with communication disabilities served as a catalyst for change. It also highlights the need to SLPs to move intervention to a social and community space.

Fostering human rights through TalkBank

In accord with articles 19 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people with speech and language disorders have the right to receive maximal benefit from academic research on speech and language acquisition and disorders. To evaluate the diverse nature of speech and language disorders, this research must have access to large datasets, as well as to refined tools for the systematic analysis of these datasets. The TalkBank system addresses this need by providing researchers with thousands of hours of open-access database archives of digital audio, video and transcript files documenting typical and disordered language use in dozens of languages and cultures. In this paper, we review the TalkBank system, with an emphasis on the AphasiaBank, PhonBank and FluencyBank databases. We describe how specialised assessment tools can be used to study issues in speech and language acquisition and disorders recorded within these databases. We then provide illustrations of how assessments support the needs of researchers, clinicians, developers, and educators, whose combined work contributes solutions for people with speech, language and language learning disorders worldwide.

Human rights of refugee-survivors of sexual and gender-based violence with communication disability

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948 ) states that all people have the right to seek, receive and impart information using any means. Ensuring that people with communication disability achieve this right is inherently challenging. For people with communication disability, who are refugee-survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), additional human rights are challenged, including the right to education, protection from discrimination, a safe place to live, security of person and legal protection. Their experiences and needs, however, are poorly understood. This paper reports on a literature review of the intersectionality between SGBV, being a refugee and having a communication disability, and a preliminary investigation of the situation of refugee-survivors of SGBV with communication disability, in Rwanda. The project involved 54 participants, including 50 humanitarian and partner organisation staff and four carers of refugees with communication disabilities, from two locations (camp-based and urban refugees). Findings from both revealed that, for people with communication disability, barriers are likely to occur at each step of preventing and responding to SGBV. Moreover, stigmatisation of people with communication disability challenges SGBV prevention/support and people with communication disability may be targeted by SGBV perpetrators. SGBV service providers acknowledge their lack of knowledge and skills about communication disability, but wish to learn. Findings highlight the need for increased knowledge and skill development, in order to improve the situation for refugee-survivors of SGBV with communication disability.

Can teacher-child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education and participation?

PURPOSE

This study explored how teacher-child relationships change over the early school years, in terms of closeness and conflict, whether these trajectories differ in type and frequency for children with typical development and children with speech and language concern (SLC), and whether the trajectories are associated with school outcomes at 12-13 years.

METHOD

Participants were children, parents and teachers in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Parents identified 2890 children with typical communication and 1442 children with SLC. Teacher-rated teacher-child closeness and conflict were collected biennially over six years. Academic and social-emotional outcomes were reported by teachers and children. Growth mixture modelling was conducted to generate teacher-child relationship trajectories and Wald's chi-square analyses were used to test the association between trajectories and school outcomes at 12-13 years, after controlling for a range of covariates including child's sex, language background, Indigenous status, age and socio-economic position.

RESULT

In both groups, the majority of children had teacher-child relationship trajectories with sustained high closeness and low conflict that predicted positive outcomes at age 12-13, but the SLC group was more at risk of less positive trajectories and poorer school outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Close, less conflicted relationships with teachers may provide a supportive context for later language, literacy and social-emotional development. This study highlights the role of teachers in supporting children in their development of communication and academic skills that will optimise their capacity for freedom of opinions and expression, education and participation, as enshrined in Articles 19, 26 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Measurement accuracy: Enabling human rights for Fijian students with speech difficulties

PURPOSE

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the rights to communication and education and measuring access to these rights for children with disabilities is fundamental. The UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module (CFM) is being promoted to measure progress against the Sustainable Development Goals for children with disabilities. This cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study in Fiji compares parent and teacher CFM responses to the Intelligibility in Context Scale for 463 primary-aged students with and without speech difficulties.

METHOD

Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to analyse CFM accuracy and determine optimal cut-off points; inter-rater reliability between teachers and parents was calculated.

RESULT

Parent responses to the CFM speech questions achieved an area under the curve of 0.98, indicating "excellent" diagnostic accuracy. Teachers achieved 0.92 ("very good"). The Youden Index identified the optimal cut-off as "some difficulty".

CONCLUSION

The CFM appears effective when used by parents or teachers for distinguishing between children with and without speech difficulties. While identified as the optimal cut-off statistically, the "some difficulty" category identifies too many children without speech difficulties to be simplistically applied to funding eligibility. The CFM should be used as a screening tool, followed by further assessment to confirm eligibility.

Speech-language pathologists as determiners of the human right to diversity in communication for school children in the US

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression - the right to communication. Communication is at the core of the speech-language pathology (SLP) profession. Yet, while we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights some of our most vulnerable youth are being placed in special education at disproportional rates. School-based SLPs in the United States may be unwittingly contributing to this phenomenon, obstructing the human right to communication because of biased assessment procedures. However, increasing cultural competence, diversifying the profession, and utilising additional assessment measures are actions that can be taken to promote equity in assessment for all children.

Communication Capacity Research in the Majority World: Supporting the human right to communication specialist services

Receipt of accessible and appropriate specialist services and resources by all people with communication and/or swallowing disability is a human right; however, it is a right rarely achieved in either Minority or Majority World contexts. This paper considers communication specialists' efforts to provide sustainable services for people with communication difficulties living in Majority World countries. The commentary draws on human rights literature, particularly Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Communication Capacity Research program that includes: (1) gathering knowledge from policy and literature; (2) gathering knowledge from the community; (3) understanding speech, language and literacy use and proficiency; and (4) developing culturally and linguistically appropriate resources and assessments. To inform the development of resources and assessments that could be used by speech-language pathologists as well as other communication specialists in Fiji, the Communication Capacity Research program involved collection and analysis of data from multiple sources including 144 community members, 75 school students and their families, and 25 teachers. The Communication Capacity Research program may be applicable for achieving the development of evidence-based, culturally and linguistically sustainable SLP services in similar contexts.

Beyond lip service: Towards human rights-driven guidelines for South African speech-language pathologists

Developed with a strong awareness of past injustices, South Africa's progressive constitution emphasises a full spectrum of human rights. While the constitution celebrates many languages and cultures, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) face challenges in translating these values into practice with a diverse clientele. Similarly, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights focuses on freedom of expression in one's language of choice, but is often perceived as a "Cinderella" right (i.e. one that is frequently neglected). This paper presents a literature review undertaken in association with the Health Professions Council of South Africa to produce guidelines to support SLPs in their practice with diverse linguistic and cultural groups. The aim was to identify key points for inclusion in a set of human rights-driven guidelines. Specific objectives were to critique: (1) current guidelines for SLPs working with diverse cultural and linguistic groups; and (2) equivalent guidelines for related professions. Content analysis of the datasets revealed key themes which formed the basis of an initial skeleton, to be further developed through a consultative process and discussion, ultimately aiming to provide supportive, practical guidelines to better equip South African SLPs to serve all the people of the country.

Fear of communicating fear versus fear of terrorism: A human rights violation or a sign of our time?

At its very first session, the United Nations General Assembly, adopted Resolution 59(I) which states that "freedom of information is a fundamental human right and … the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated". In 1948, it proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris. Article 19 of that Declaration states that "everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers". When we place these basic human rights against current global terror threats, and consequent restrictive antiterror legislations to combat them, the question becomes whether Article 19 is still relevant in the context of today's changed security landscape. The aim of this paper is to explore ways that anti-terror legislations can balance between national security, and the protection of freedom of information.

The human right to communicate and our need to listen: Learning from people with a history of childhood communication disorder

PURPOSE

In 2013, the Australian Government Senate formed a committee for inquiry and report into the prevalence of speech, language, and communication disorders and speech pathology services in Australia. Submissions were sought from individuals and organisations. In this paper, submissions made by individuals with a history of childhood communication disorder were examined to explore their life experiences and the impact on their lives when the right to communicate could not be enacted.

METHOD

There were 305 submissions to the Australian Government Senate Committee Inquiry, of which 288 were publically accessible. In this study, the submissions (n = 17) from children or adults with a history of communication disorder (including speech, language and stuttering), who provided personal accounts of their experiences, were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach.

RESULT

Four themes emerged relating to: personal identity, life with communication disorder, the importance of help, and how life would be different without a communication disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper gives voice to children and adults with communication disorder. In listening to these voices, the impact of communication disorder on the right to communicate and on other human rights can be heard, and the need for a response is clear. However, the challenge is to determine how the voices of these individuals, and others like them, can be enabled to exert real influence on practice and policy so communication disorder will no longer be a barrier to attainment of their human rights.

Speech therapy in adolescents with Down syndrome: In pursuit of communication as a fundamental human right

PURPOSE

The achievement of speech intelligibility by persons with Down syndrome facilitates their participation in society. Denial of speech therapy services by virtue of low cognitive skills is a violation of their fundamental human rights as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in general and in Article 19 in particular. Here, we describe the differential response of an adolescent with Down syndrome to three speech therapy interventions and demonstrate the use of a single subject randomisation design to identify effective treatments for children with complex communication disorders.

METHOD

Over six weeks, 18 speech therapy sessions were provided with treatment conditions randomly assigned to targets and sessions within weeks, specifically comparing auditory-motor integration prepractice and phonological planning prepractice to a control condition that included no prepractice. All treatments involved high intensity practice of nonsense word targets paired with tangible referents.

RESULT

A measure of generalisation from taught words to untaught real words in phrases revealed superior learning in the auditory-motor integration condition.

CONCLUSION

The intervention outcomes may serve to justify the provision of appropriate supports to persons with Down syndrome so that they may achieve their full potential to receive information and express themselves.

A human right to literacy education: Implications for serving Syrian refugee children

Forty percent of Syrian refugees are younger than 12, and many have not attended school for up to five years, disadvantaging them academically, emotionally, and psychosocially. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights dictates "the right to freedom of opinion and expression…and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas…)". Resettled refugee children face the challenge of integration into majority-English school systems with limited ability to express themselves or linguistic means to access education. However, Syrian adults possess high rates of literacy and funds of knowledge that can promote an environment of learning in the home language. With incomplete language and literacy skills in their native Arabic, learning English for academics proves challenging. Without language and literacy instruction, refugee children experience a lower likelihood of class participation and a greater likelihood of social isolation or drop out. To inform speech-language pathologists and other educators, this literature review aims: (1) to apply second language learning concepts relevant to refugees, (2) to inform pedagogy specific to reading by highlighting cross-linguistic differences between Arabic and English, and (3) to illuminate strategies that families and educators of Arabic-speaking refugee students may employ to resume and promote language and literacy development.

The human right to communicate: A survey of available services in Saudi Arabia

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression." However, people with communication disabilities may be more likely to lose the right to express their opinions as a consequence of their atypical communication methods; hence they may be denied a basic human right. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the availability of speech-language pathology services in Saudi Arabia's public-health sector. The data were collected using a telephone survey. The results found a shortage of and an uneven distribution of health-based speech-language pathology services. Of the 196 major governmental hospitals surveyed, 29 were identified as having speech-language pathology services, which were distributed over 7 of Saudi Arabia's 13 Administrative Regions. Obtaining accurate information regarding the availability of these services is an important first step in informing policy development and aiding health-service planners to train more professional staff, expand services methodically and use existing resources effectively to meet the rights of people with communication disabilities.

Just Sentences: Human rights to enable participation and equity for prisoners and all

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds up the right to opinion and expression for all. Just Sentences was a prison-based language-literacy pilot project for men, delivered by a speech-language pathologist at Risdon Prison in Tasmania, Australia. The pilot provided input into the various interpretative permutations of "just sentences". It enabled skills of opinion and expression. This commentary takes language and social reciprocity to be privileged drivers of personal agency and pro-social personal freedom. It notes the role of hope as an agent of positive change, including in desistance from crime. It describes the project and shares the reflections of the speech-language pathologist who delivered it.

The International Communication Project: Raising global awareness of communication as a human right

Communication as a human right is embedded within Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; however, there is a need to raise global awareness of the communication needs of those with communication disorders. In 2014, the six national speech-language and audiology professional bodies that comprise the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) launched the International Communication Project (ICP) to help raise awareness of communication disorders around the world. Since its inception, the project has engaged close to 50 organisations from diverse regions, and has undertaken a number of initiatives, including development of the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights. A consultancy report was commissioned to inform ICP efforts to influence international policy bodies. As a result, the current focus of the ICP is to identify opportunities to influence the policies of organisations such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations and World Bank to more explicitly acknowledge and address communication as a human right. This commentary paper describes the work of the ICP to date, with an emphasis on the place of communication disorders in current international policy and potential pathways for advocacy.

Assessment of communication abilities in multilingual children: Language rights or human rights?

Communication involves a sender, a receiver and a shared code operating through shared rules. Breach of communication results from disruption to any of these basic components of a communicative chain, although assessment of communication abilities typically focuses on senders/receivers, on two assumptions: first, that their command of features and rules of the language in question (the code), such as sounds, words or word order, as described in linguists' theorisations, represents the full scope of linguistic competence; and second, that languages are stable, homogeneous entities, unaffected by their users' communicative needs. Bypassing the role of the code in successful communication assigns decisive rights to abstract languages rather than to real-life language users, routinely leading to suspected or diagnosed speech-language disorder in academic and clinical assessment of multilingual children's communicative skills. This commentary reflects on whether code-driven assessment practices comply with the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Communication as a human right: Citizenship, politics and the role of the speech-language pathologist

According to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." The purpose of this paper is to elucidate communication as a human right in the life of a young man called Declan who has Down syndrome. This commentary paper is co-written by Declan, his sister who is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) with an advocacy role, his SLP, and academics. Declan discusses, in his own words, what makes communication hard, what helps communication, his experiences of speech-language pathology, and what he knows about human rights. He also discusses his passion for politics, his right to be an active citizen and participate in the political process. This paper also focuses on the role of speech-language pathology in supporting and partnering with people with communication disabilities to have their voices heard and exercise their human rights.

Assuring children's human right to freedom of opinion and expression in education

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights elaborated for children through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, mandates each child's right to participate in all matters affecting them. In particular, Article 19 includes the child's right to freedom of expression and opinion, access to information and communication choice. However, many barriers placed on children's daily lives often restrict or limit the enactment of children's participatory rights in practice, most noticeably in education. It is often the adult who decides what, when and how children can communicate, and the extent children's views and opinions are sought, considered or incorporated. This paper explores how children's daily lives are mediated in ways that restrict their expression, voice and communication rights. Children spend a significant proportion of their daily lives in education settings yet the restrictions on children's access to information and communication choices do not reflect contemporary pedagogical thinking. Many school settings perpetuate the key participation barriers of adult attitude and knowledge, pedagogical tradition, organisational structure and technological advancement. Such barriers to engagement stifle the realisation of the child's communication rights that then limits educational enhancement. Supporting children's right to communicate via a range of media enables pedagogy supporting voice-inclusive practice.

Rural and remote speech-language pathology service inequities: An Australian human rights dilemma

Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right for all Australians. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledges the right to freedom of opinion and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. Capacities for self-expression and effective communication underpin the realisation of these fundamental human rights. For rural and remote Australian children this realisation is compromised by complex disadvantages and inequities that contribute to communication delays, inequity of access to essential speech-language pathology services and poorer later life outcomes. Localised solutions to the provision of civically engaged, accessible, acceptable and sustainable speech-language pathology services within rural and remote Australian contexts are required if we are to make substantive human rights gains. However, civically engaged and sustained healthcare can significantly challenge traditional professionalised perspectives on how best to design and implement speech-language pathology services that seek to address rural and remote communication needs and access inequities. A failure to engage these communities in the identification of childhood communication delays and solutions to address these delays, ultimately denies children, families and communities of their human rights for healthcare access, self-expression, self-dignity and meaningful inclusion within Australian society.

Slaves, embryos, and nonhuman animals: moral status and the limitations of common morality theory

Common morality theory must confront apparent counterexamples from the history of morality, such as the widespread acceptance of slavery in prior eras, that suggest core norms have changed over time. A recent defense of common morality theory addresses this problem by drawing a distinction between the content of the norms of the common morality and the range of individuals to whom these norms apply. This distinction is successful in reconciling common morality theory with practices such as slavery, but only at the cost of underscoring the limits of common morality theory, in particular its inability to resolve disputes about the moral status of entities. Given that many controversies in bioethics center on the disputed status of various entities, such as embryos and nonhuman animals, this is an important limitation. Nonetheless, common morality theory still can be a useful resource in diminishing moral conflict on issues that do not involve disputes over moral status.

Human rights education for nursing students

This article is based largely on a research study undertaken by the author into the teaching of human rights in nursing courses in the UK on behalf of the national section of the human rights organization Amnesty International. It attempts to provide a baseline estimate of human rights education in nursing curricula in the UK while making suggestions on how the teaching of human rights issues could be more clearly incorporated into nursing curricula, ending with some recommendations for further research.

Ethics and triage

A disaster is characterized by an imbalance between needs and supplies. In circumstances in which there occur mass casualties, it is not possible to provide care for all of the victims. Thus, it may be necessary to triage the casualties according to pre-established priorities. The performance of triage is associated with many ethical issues. Currently, no Europe-wide agreement on triage and ethics exists. One system based on a categorization into four groups is proposed. Triage should be avoided whenever possible, but, when it is required, there is an obligation to respect human rights and the humanitarian laws, especially with reference to the Geneva Convention of 1864 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. The condition of informed consent must be followed, even in mass casualty situations. Triage always must follow established medical criteria and cannot be based on any other principles. Triage implies constant re-evaluation of victims as conditions of the victims and of available resources change continuously. In order to facilitate international coordination and cooperation, a universal classification system must be adopted.

The lingua franca of human rights and the rise of a global bioethic

Globalization is often discussed as if it were a recent phenomenon relating primarily to the development of world financial markets and improvements in information and travel technologies. But globalization is an ancient process, beginning with mercantile and cultural exchanges and facilitated by advances in transportation. In the twentieth century, the results of globalization can be seen in the rise of global capitalism and in the construction of a global economy. Most recently, the process of globalization has moved beyond the world of finance, however, into areas still traditionally thought of as national concerns, such as culture and healthcare. It is no surprise, therefore, that increasingly the challenges the United States is confronting in healthcare, biotechnology, and the environment are simultaneously faced by the international community as a whole. In the wake of the HIV pandemic, growing environmental consciousness, and a series of sensational advances in biotechnology, there is a dawning realization that problems such as improving public health, regulating advances in biotechnology, and achieving sustainable environmental development transcend national borders. In other words, bioethics concerns are global in nature.

Keeping human rights on the bioethics agenda

The ideal of universal human rights is arguably the most potent moral concept marking the modern world. Its accelerated fruition in the last half of the twentieth century has created a powerful political force, laying the groundwork for future generations to extend and apply. Whereas anything resembling international legal status for human rights had to wait for the post-Nazi era, the bold proclamations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) loosened a revolutionary force with endless potential for application to the full range of human endeavors. The roots of this movement can be traced to each and every era in which the vulnerable and powerless sought justification to oppose arbitrary domination. Its roots are, therefore, deep and wide.