Sandy Hirsch

Sandy Hirsch, MS CCC-SLP is a licensed and board certified speech-language pathologist with 30 years of experience as a clinician, trainer and educator. She received her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology in 1989 from the University of Washington, and holds a B.A. in French and Classics (1981) with a minor focus in music from the University of Lancaster in England. She was formerly an actress and has maintained a passion for singing. Ms. Hirsch is a Certified Member of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), the Washington Speech Language Hearing Association (WSLHA), The Voice Foundation, The Northwest Voice Foundation and The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). She is a certified Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) clinician, as well as a trained Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy (LMRVT) clinician and Compton P-ESL accent modification trainer. She has maintained an expertise in voice throughout her 30 year career. During this time she has worked in her private practice Give Voice, hospital, clinic, home health, hospice and school settings, working with multiple neurological and functional diagnoses that include swallowing, voice, speech, language and cognition. She has over 25 years of experience working with transgender and gender non-conforming people. Ms. Hirsch has made this a focus of her practice and is internationally considered an expert in the field. As such she has co-edited and contributed to the three editions of the seminal text on voice and communication training for transgender and gender diverse clients: Adler, R. ; Hirsch, S.; and Pickering J. (eds) (2019). Voice and Communication Training for the Transgender/Gender Diverse Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide. (previously Ader, Hirsch and Mordaunt). She is an active member of the Seattle area Ingersoll Gender Center consult group. Ms. Hirsch has worked with many hundreds of transgender and gender non-conforming people to help them find and develop a voice congruent with their gender identity and individual communication goals. She has presented and taught at multiple conferences and workshops on the subject of transgender and gender non-conforming voice and communication. In addition to her focus, Ms. Hirsch’s practice serves a wide range of voice and communication areas including training for public speakers, those preparing for interviews and job promotion, and people who speak English as a second language. A marriage of theatre, singing, clinical voice expertise, and languages (French and German) gives Ms. Hirsch a rich perspective on communication training, as well as a deep understanding of diverse cultures and personalities.