Ngā manu taketake o te ao (Indigenous birds of the world): a scoping review of research focusing on Indigenous speech-language therapy for Indigenous children, using Indigenous methodologies

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For Indigenous children with speech, language and communication needs, providing speech-language therapy within their worldview is of vital importance. This scoping review identified speech-language therapy research undertaken internationally in the past 20 years using Indigenous methodologies. This is part of a research project conducted by tribal researchers from Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Trust, the mandated tribal organization located in the Eastern region of New Zealand’s North Island. The review critically appraised 31 articles and theses using the CONSoliDated critERia (CONSIDER) for strengthening reporting of health research involving Indigenous peoples, to evaluate the quality of research practices in studies involving Indigenous peoples. The review revealed small pockets of speech-language therapy research for children from Indigenous communities around the English-speaking world, but insufficient research to form a robust evidence base to meet the rights of any group of Indigenous peoples, as expressed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.