Publication Date
Spring 2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communicative Disorders and Sciences
Advisor
Pei-Tzu Tsai
Subject Areas
Speech therapy
Abstract
Transgender individuals may need a variety of health and educational services, including voice modification from speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Measuring the client’s self-perception of their voice and voice-related experiences is crucial for providing client-centered services and measuring outcomes. However, there is currently no validated assessment tool for the non-binary population, a part of the transgender population. The aim of this research is to explore voice-related concerns and experiences within the non-binary population to create a valid measure of their self-perception of voice. Ten non-binary individuals were surveyed about their voice within the context of the World Health Organization framework for measuring health and disability. The researcher performed a thematic analysis of participants’ responses, which led to the development of a pilot assessment tool. The pilot tool was systematically evaluated for its content validity by a panel of SLP experts in transgender voice services. Results of this analysis supported the measure’s validity and motivated further revisions to the pilot tool. This study resulted in the first validated assessment tool that measures self-perception of voice and voice-related experiences for non-binary individuals. Further research is needed for large-scale testing of validity and reliability.
Recommended Citation
Shefcik, Grace, "Assessment of Non-binary Individuals' Self-perception of Voice" (2020). Master's Theses. 5110.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.nqyd-25mu
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5110
