PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Language Communication
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1523083
Bridging the Digital Disability Divide: Supporting Digital Participation of Individuals with Speech, Language, and Communication Disorders as a Task for Speech-Language Pathology
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- 2University of Paderborn, Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Purpose: The goal of speech-language pathology is to ensure and improve the participation of individuals with speech, language, and communication disorders. Continued digital transformation means more participation occurs through digital media, raising questions about the digital participation of these individuals and the role, content, and framework of speech-language pathology, both of which need proactive discussion. This Perspective Article outlines a viewpoint on these developments, aiming to stimulate critical reflection and disciplinary dialogue on the future role of speech-language pathology in the digital age. Conclusion: Research indicates that individuals with speech, language, and communication disorders are restricted in their digital participation. There is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the impact of various speech, language and communication skills on digital participation across different disorders. If speech-language pathology aims to promote participation and this is increasingly dependent on digital media and information and communication technologies (ICTs) then digital participation must also be a therapeutic goal. Achieving this requires more (participatory) research and corresponding training opportunities for speech language pathologists (SLPs).
Keywords: digital participation1, speech-language-pathology2, Digital divide3, speech-language-therapy4, Speech, language and communication disorders5
Received: 05 Nov 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Thorndahl, Abel, Albrecht, Rosenkranz and Jonas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dennis Thorndahl, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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