UConn!

This morning like I usually do I was reading Google News to see what news article that I could write about and there was one about Northwestern University’s vocal therapy group for transgender youths.

Northwestern, Lurie team up to offer transgender teens voice training
By Barbara Brotman
Chicago Tribune
July 6, 2015

The room filled with voices sliding up and down in pitch and an assortment of buzzings and hummings.

It sounded like a cross between opera warmups and chanting. But the young people here were doing vocal exercises with a different purpose: They were learning how to speak in the voice of the opposite gender than the one into which they were born.

In a first-time pilot program, Northwestern University's Center for Audiology, Speech, Language and Learning, and the Lurie Children's Hospital's Gender and Sex Development Program teamed up recently to offer a vocal therapy group for transgendered youths.

It's a skill these teenagers were eager to learn.

And that reminded me of the same program that the University of Connecticut has for trans people,

In A Word: Transgender Transition Through Speech
UConn Today
By: Sheila Foran & Bret Eckhardt
June 29, 2015

Communication happens in a gesture. A laugh. A choice of phrasing. Things that most of us never think about. But for individuals transitioning from one gender to another, speaking and acting in a way that supports their new identity can seem like a daunting challenge.

That’s where the speech-language pathologists at the University of Connecticut’s Speech and Hearing Clinic enter the picture.

“To me, speech is the thing that makes or breaks you in terms of whether you are seen as being feminine or not,” says Sylvia Wojcik, a client at the clinic for the past 18 months. “The voice is the finishing aspect of transition.”
[…]
In addition to providing benefit to the clients in the program, there is a societal benefit, says Roberts. The graduate students from the from the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, who work with the clients will likely leave UConn one day, she says, with a greater knowledge of the transgender population.

But, says Chase, at the clinic, it’s about individuals. Whether it’s starting from the beginning of a person’s transition, or polishing the communication skills of a person who transitioned years ago, there is a place for virtually anyone needing assistance.

It is great work that these universities and colleges are doing and as the article says it is a two-way street, they are learning from us.

But UConn also has something else that is great, they have a transition guideline that helps a UConn student transition on campus.

The University of Connecticut is committed to providing safe and supportive working and learning environments for all members of its community. In particular, all University community members have the right to safely express their gender identity, to be judged based on their merit and ability, and to be free from discrimination and harassment. As part of its commitment to ensuring the professional and academic success of transgender employees and students, the University has adopted these guidelines as a resource for the University community.

These guidelines are intended to assist transgender and gender variant members of the campus community with navigating the policies and practices of the University during a gender transition, as well as to assist University community members in their efforts to support transgender community members. While gender transitions may share certain similarities, no two transitions are exactly alike. Each person’s transition process is unique to the individual and the specific steps and timing of a transition may vary, as well as how public the individual wants to be about the transition. As a result, to respect the transitioning individual, it is important to remain flexible in implementing these guidelines and to provide choices that an individual can make within this framework. This document is intended to provide guidance to all individuals involved with a person’s transition (e.g., the transitioning or transitioned individual, supervisors and managers, advisors, transition teams, colleagues and peers), and includes a list of resources that provides further information.

As a UConn School of Social Work graduate, I found UConn to be open and affirming and never had any problems at the main campus in Storrs and at the West Hartford campus. I took an active part in student government and after I graduated I was a member of the UConn SSW alumni board of directors. In addition I have been a guest lecturer for many classes not only in the SSW but also the Schools of Education and Public Health. This fall I am going to be a guest lecturer for another class on the main campus (which reminds me, I have to fill out the paperwork this coming week – W-9 and vendor forms), my lecture is going to be a 90 minute talk on Trans History.