"I have always felt that the action most worth watching is not at the center of things but where edges meet. I like shorelines, weather fronts, international borders. There are interesting frictions and incongruities in these places, and often, if you stand at the point of tangency, you can see both sides better than if you were in the middle of either one."
-Anne Fadiman, The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down
Language is a pivotal cornerstone in the job description and identity of speech-language pathologists. But as medical professionals working and interacting with patients from other cultures, what is the common language with which we speak? At its crux, The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman prompted me to think about biases and perspective, empathy and patient care, cultural barriers and cross-cultural differences. What resonated me was the quote, "We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are." Ingrained within all of us are our own cultural biases that form our frames of reference, thereby affecting how we perceive and interact with the world around us. In the case of Lia Lee, cultures clashed with horrifying repercussions. At the time, the Western doctors in Merced, California, thought they knew best about providing optimal care to Lia, as they had knowledge and education on their side. They viewed Lia's parents as unfit for parenthood, and the Hmong culture and its twix neeb as unsound doctrine. On the other hand, Lia's immigrant parents interpreted major medical and social events surrounding Lia's illness and hospitalizations in the context of Hmong religion. This was all they knew, and most importantly, what they believed in. This also was the source of tension and contention, as each side misinterpreted the other's intentions. There was no common ground and no common language. How then, does one avoid prejudice and discrimination if each culture unknowingly cultivates its own biases? How does one cultivate empathy towards a person or group of persons whose background and culture is so unfamiliar and foreign? As Fadiman stated, "What you choose to call it, the ability to deal with patients from unfamiliar cultures shouldn't be a political stance but a human stance, as well as a strategy that save lives." I think speaking the common language means adopting a professionally loving and empathetic human stance towards the patients who are under our care. A common language means standing "where the edges meet" - at the "point of tangency" where both sides can be better seen and fully understood.
