Aligning Voice and Communication with Identity – A Survey on Transgender and Gender Diverse Populations

Purpose: This research has two goals. The first goal is to examine transgender (TG) and gender diverse (GD) voice and communication functioning and the impact of voice on their everyday lives. The second goal is to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs speech-language pathologists (SLP) have about the TG and GD community and to investigate the relationship between self- and listener-perception and its correspondence to quality of life (QoL). Methods: A total of 59 participants took part in this research. The research was separated into two parts, the first included 24 TG and GD individuals who participated in a Qualtrics survey, 15 of which recorded their voice for listener-perception. The second part included 35 SLPs who participated in a Qualtrics survey. Results: Dissatisfaction of voice and communication and its dissonance to gender identity negatively impacted TG and GD individuals’ QoL. Roughly 46% of SLPs indicated that TG and GD education was not addressed within their SLP master’s curriculum. Roughly 14% of SLPs indicated they feel pronouns to be unrelated to the success of therapy and the same percentage of SLPs reported feeling somewhat uncomfortable and very uncomfortable providing therapy to the TG and GD population. Increased dissatisfaction of TG and GD voice QoL scores correlated to an increased severity and inconsistency CAPE-V score. Discussion: Action is needed to provide person-centered, quality, and comprehensive care for TG and GD individuals. Increased education, cultural humility, and research to develop a standardized procedure model will improve evaluation and treatment for TG and GD clients and their overall quality of life. Other areas of GD research (e.g., psychosocial and physiological effects of voice on testosterone, social communication style, and QoL) should be explored