Diandra Morse, LCSW is a Dominican American therapist and advocate who was raised in both the Dominican Republic and New York City. She currently resides in Upstate New York where she is raising two bilingual Spanish/English boys alongside her U.S. American husband. For the last 4 years, her family has prioritized and maintained the use of Spanish in their home as a means to preserve Diandra’s Dominican heritage and the important Spanish speaking family ties that have been instrumental in Diandra’s upbringing and development.
Diandra combines her love for bilingualism, Spanish language speakers, supporting the mental health of children and parents and advocacy in her Spanish/English bilingualism forward Instagram brand, Bilingual Playdate. Bilingual Playdate pushes Diandra’s belief that connection is the heart of bilingualism and that connection is the ultimate tool to prevent continued language loss in U.S. Latine Spanish speaking families.
In hopes of both inspiring and creating a movement in the United States that is led by bilingual parents and educators like her, Diandra advocates for the involvement of Spanish speaking parents and community members in bilingual education and practices. Her content focuses on dismantling myths about Latine Spanish speaking children and their families, as well as bilingual children/students. She draws attention to discriminatory and linguistically oppressive practices carried on in the U.S. and how we can eradicate their continued prevalence via collective education and support.
Through Bilingual Playdate, Diandra connects parents to a multitude of community support and provides parents with play-based Spanish learning resources that they can incorporate in their home as a means to continue to speak in Spanish. There is a growing lack of Spanish speaking Latine created resources and Diandra is committed to bridge that gap.
Diandra believes that ultimately we all benefit from educating all children on the need for bilingualism in our U.S. society and promoting positive language attitudes towards ALL language variations. Her work is a form of violence prevention and continues to aim for a better and more liberated existence for all, especially our most vulnerable and marginalized populations.