Somos Bilingües or "We are Bilingual" was founded on the belief that children of all backgrounds and abilities deserve culturally competent services. What is cultural competence? Cultural competence involves understanding and appropriately responding to the unique combination of cultural variables and the full range of dimensions of diversity that the professional and client/patient/family bring to interactions. Clinical approaches—such as interview style, assessment tools, and therapeutic techniques—that are appropriate for one individual may not be appropriate for another. It is important to recognize that the unique influence of an individual's cultural and linguistic background may change over time and according to circumstance, necessitating adjustments in clinical approaches. It is our mission to reduce the historical disparities that exist in special education- the over-identification of bilingual/bicultural students and English Language Learners (ELLs). How do we achieve this? Our team consists of psychologists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, social workers, and special educators that specialize in providing culturally and linguistically responsive assessments and services using the latest evidence-based practice, extensive case-history review, parent and teacher interviews, observations and work-samples, dynamic assessment measures, non-standard administration of standardized assessments, and clinical judgement.
