Abstract
Speech pathologists who may be called upon to assist the transsexual in developing verbal communication skills which are consistent with society's perception of the individual's desired gender, often do not have a full understanding of transsexualism and the management of these clients. The present paper discusses the nature of transsexualism, the highly structured gender reassignment programmes in Melbourne, A ustralia, and the management of the communication problems of such individuals. Particular emphasis is given to empirical data on sex-associated speech and language characteristics as a basis for speech pathology intervention. Although some specific guidelines are presented for the clinician, it is emphasised that the validity and efficacy of management procedures remains limited until a more comprehensive data base on sex markers in speech is delineated and until speech pathologists publish evaluative reports of their intervention techniques.