Dialogue in practice: How can reimagining 'communication' re-envision speech-language pathology?

Speech-language pathology has traditionally been informed by sender-receiver models of communication and medicalised frameworks that prioritise impairment, diagnosis, and measurable outcomes. While these approaches have contributed substantially to clinical assessment and intervention, they can underrepresent relational, social, and embodied dimensions of communication that shape participation in everyday life.

We argue that expanding the theoretical foundations of speech-language pathology through engagement with dialogic, sociological, and philosophical perspectives can enrich contemporary practice. Drawing on the work of sociological philosophers we explore communication as a dynamic, co-constructed, and polyphonic process in which meaning emerges through interaction, embodiment, and encounter.

We reflect on three qualitative research projects involving people with communication disabilities. Across these examples, dialogic concepts illuminate aspects of practice that are often difficult to capture through conventional frameworks, including relational attunement, embodied knowledge, ethical responsiveness, and co-construction of meaning.

Dialogic conceptualisations of communication offer speech-language pathologists a broader professional vision that extends beyond impairment-focused models towards more collaborative, person-centred, and contextually situated practice.

Dialogism offers concepts that can advance assessment, intervention, professional education, and research; greater engagement with theory can support more ethical, creative, and inclusive approaches to communication support.