INQUIRING MINDS

Speaking of Equity

By Julia Halprin Jackson

San José State University Professor and Chair of Communicative Disorders and Sciences Nidhi Mahendra is empowering people with language loss.

Imagine surviving a stroke and awakening to a new world, one in which you can’t process language. You can’t communicate with your spouse, your siblings or your children. Who are you, and who can you become, without the ability to communicate?

San José State Professor and Chair of Communicative Disorders and Sciences Nidhi Mahendra says about one third of stroke survivors live with aphasia, a language disability resulting from brain injury. A multilingual licensed speech and language pathologist and 2022 Fellow of the American Speech Language Hearing Association, Mahendra is dedicated to serving those who live with aphasia and other communicative disorders, as well as training the next generation of practitioners and professionals.

Because California is experiencing one of the worst shortages of licensed speech-language pathologists in the nation, Mahendra believes that now, more than ever, the demand for diverse qualified professionals offers promising opportunities for Spartans invested in making a difference.

Healthy Development Community Clinic co-founders Matthew Cipriotti, Cara Maffini and Nidhi Mahendra at the HDCC's opening in June 2022. Photo: David Schmitz.

When Mahendra was named a 2022 ASHA Fellow, her students and colleagues left messages on her office door. Photo: Nidhi Mahendra.

“Speech language pathologists in the United States are the highest qualified providers to help you if you have any concerns with communication — speaking, actually producing sounds, understanding or expressing language, both in speaking and writing — anything to do with cognition and swallowing problems,” she says. “The profession’s current composition is 92% white, middle-class practitioners, and we’re a largely monolingual provider base. And yet who do you encounter in California?

“We see an incredibly diverse clientele from many underrepresented groups. What happens to the patient who is not able to advocate for themselves in a very fierce way, really push back on the system, especially when they’re navigating a health crisis? If we can’t change something about this ecosystem, how can we overcome the barriers to equitable access to healthcare?”

These questions keep Mahendra up at night — reflections of real-life scenarios she encountered in private practice and in hospitals prior to becoming a professor. Throughout her career, she noticed the high demand for services supporting people with aphasia and other communicative disorders and resolved to disrupt inequities in the healthcare system.

Motivated by this desire to offer inclusive services in the South Bay, Mahendra launched SJSU’s Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic (SPARC) and co-founded SJSU’s Healthy Development Community Clinic (HDCC) with SJSU faculty members Cara Maffini and Matt Capriotti. Located at Oak Grove High School, the HDCC strives to provide services to East Side San José community members in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Mahendra supervises student clinicians, offers workshops and designs resources to support community health and wellness.

“When you start to see a person with rich thoughts and ideas who can then share them with the world — it is so powerful to see.”

— Nidhi Mahendra

Both clinics offer students the chance to interact directly with people who could one day be their patients. This hands-on experience also offers practicum hours required for clinical certification in speech-language pathology.

The best part about being a speech language pathologist? Witnessing how communication unfolds and can empower people to live their best lives.

“It is so rewarding to watch people have a breakthrough moment when they communicate successfully and express themselves,” she says. “For someone living with aphasia or with stuttering, it can take a lot of painstaking effort to communicate. Yet when you start to see a person with rich thoughts and ideas who can then share them with the world — it is so powerful to see.”

Want to learn more?

Visit Nidhi Mahendra's faculty profile.

Top Photo: Robert C. Bain. Bottom Photo: Katelyn Ennis.