Fix SLP

Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP, share their reactions the morning after receiving the ASHA Board's decision not to amend Section 3.2 of their bylaws, despite significant support for the 2% bylaws petition, including 50,000 followers and nearly 2 million Instagram views in the last 90 days. The board cited the need to establish standard operating procedures for such petitions, prompting transparency and financial accountability concerns. They emphasize the importance of fair pricing for the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) and share that legal counsel has been engaged to continue advocating for change, urging SLPs to stay informed and united in this fight for autonomy and equity.

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Creators & Guests

Host
Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP
Host of Fix SLP
Host
Preston Lewis, MS, SLP
Co-host of Fix SLP

What is Fix SLP?

Fix SLP is grassroots advocacy firm here to challenge the status quo in speech-language pathology by driving real change—from insurance regulations to removing barriers to full autonomy like the CCC. This podcast is your space to learn, engage and take action in the field of SLP. We don’t wait for change, we make it. So let’s fix SLP!
Hosted by Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP

Jeanette Benigas 0:00
Hey, fixers, thanks for caring enough to keep up with the petition progress. Preston and I recorded this reaction to Vicki's letter before I received the letter from ashes legal counsel. We give full petition updates via email only. This is because we include all of the communications that I received from Asha, and screenshots of those will be too small to place on social media tiles. To date, we have only sent 11 emails from fix SLP to folks who are not sustaining partners, so please sign up at fix slp.com you can scroll to the bottom, put your email in the box and click subscribe. We will not spam you when we email you. It's because it's important. So let's jump in. Hey, fixers, I'm Dr Jeanette Benigas, the owner of fix SLP, a grassroots advocacy firm here to challenge the status quo in speech language pathology by driving real change from insurance regulations to removing barriers that prevent full autonomy like the CCC, this podcast is your space to learn, engage and take action in the field of speech language pathology. We don't wait for change. We make it so let's fix SLP!

We got a letter. We don't know. We don't know when we're going to air this. Oh, last night, this came in at 4:50pm and I was going to bed at like 11 something, and I thought, well, let me just look at my email, because I had not a great day yesterday. I really tried to separate myself from the computer and the phone as much as possible, but here it is, Jeanette, I'm writing as a professional courtesy to let you know that the ASHA board of directors, in parentheses, just in case I'm not sure BOD met considered the proposed bylaws amendment and determined that the association will not amend section 3.2 of the ASHA bylaws per the proposed 2% bylaws petition, Asha is establishing a set standard of operating procedures for submitting 2% Bylaw Amendment petitions initiated by members. More details regarding these procedures will be posted to the ASHA website once finalized. Additionally, you can expect a response from ashes, legal counsel on your point that member initiated petitions to amend the bylaws are not subject to Bod consideration of Vicki. Okay.

Preston Lewis 3:03
Well, I have questions.

Jeanette Benigas 3:05
Ask them!

Preston Lewis 3:06
Well, first of all, was there a special meeting? Because I don't think this came up in their regular schedule. Did it?

Jeanette Benigas 3:13
No it did not. I encouraged them in my response to her. So to refresh everyone, or if you're not on our emails, go subscribe bottom of Team fix slp.com this is where I gave screenshots of every single communication sent, and we'll continue to do that. So for anyone who didn't see that, what I said to her was, with the significant support behind the fix, SLP movement approaching 50,000 followers, 50,000 followers and over 1.2 million views on Instagram. By the way, we're almost at 2 million views on Instagram in the last 90 days. And the urgency of this issue, we strongly urge the board to move forward with implementation without delay. The next regularly scheduled board meeting appears to be in February, 2025 which we believe does not allow sufficient time to implement the amendments, new pricing criteria in time for the 2026 dues notice that will be sent to members and certificates as early as late summer. We understand the board can hold conference calls and virtual meetings between formal in person sessions, convening a virtual meeting within the next 30 days to address enactment would show responsiveness to the clear intent of ASHA's membership.

Preston Lewis 4:35
Okay, I still have questions.

Jeanette Benigas 4:38
Ask them!

Preston Lewis 4:39
Okay. So also that, you know, the letter states that Ash is establishing a set of standard operating procedures for submitting 2% bylaws, amendment petitions initiated by members. Well, they floated an idea recently and found that there was, it was like a lead balloon. No one liked it. So is. This, you know, we're going to keep trying to float something until it feels good. I don't understand, because what's, you know, you tried that it didn't work. So what are you doing?

Jeanette Benigas 5:10
So ASHA's position on the board's authority to consider amendments submitted under the 2% procedure, which is what we followed, is directly contrary to the position, the position it took in the FAQs that they put out and then drew. So that's what you're referring to page two of the FAQs. Does this bylaws amendment give the Board greater veto power? This is concerning change that they put forward, and what they said was, No, the board does not vote on a bylaws amendment petition right, unless it makes changes to section 3.3 or 15.2 and our petition was not addressing either of those that was from their FAQ document on their website with their proposed change, they said that.

Preston Lewis 6:10
It's a lot of cherry picking of what they like in their rules and they don't like this is this is intriguing, and then going back to this special meeting that occurred, are there minutes? Was everybody there? Was it virtual? Did this take place at a nearby Denny's in rockville? I mean, where did this happen? This is, I think this goes back to the transparency. It to me, just seems like it's operating right now under a shroud. And I think that certainly, the almost 6000 petitions that we've submitted and the questions that we're getting and members that are wanting updates on this, and it's, it's kind of operating in a vacuum, I appreciate the correspondence, truly, I do. And I, you know, just as an aside, I kind of like that you and Vicky seem like you're on a first name basis. And I mean that not with any kind of sarcasm whatsoever. And for all those folks, you know, Vicky included, I do hope they have a happy holidays, you know. And I mean that sincerely, but ah, gosh, this just doesn't, you know, it seems like it's in the shadows.

Jeanette Benigas 7:17
You're a better person than me. Preston, I'm not wishing anybody a happy holidays?

Preston Lewis 7:21
Well, I, you know, it's sometimes I don't know. I I go back and forth. You know, there's couple episodes ago I was really on a roll, and sometimes I am. And when it comes to the issues, I can be on a roll, but I always try to remember that we may come from different positions, but I try not to question people's motives. However, Jeanette is, you know, she can tell you right now. The other night I was, I probably had had a couple of glasses of wine, and our text exchange got kind of colorful, didn't it, Jeanette?

Jeanette Benigas 7:51
Oh, I love I love a colorful Preston exchange.

Preston Lewis 7:54
Yeah

Jeanette Benigas 7:54
It was good. Here's the thing, I was super hopeful about Vicky when we first started this movement, because, honest to God, she inherited this mask. She didn't cause anything that we're angry about, that SLPs want to see changed. She was not part of this. This was Arlene who drove Asha into the ground on her own and received accolade after accolade after accolade while she did it. This is all public record. This isn't me just spouting off.

Preston Lewis 8:31
Oh, wait, wait, Jeanette. Jeanette, hang on. I'm looking up in the sky right now. The most amazing thing, I think I see Arlene with a golden parachute flying through the sky. There she is. Sorry.

Jeanette Benigas 8:42
I mean the woman, if you look at their tax returns, which we just got, those typically come out in March, and they asked for a delay. Why are they just coming out now? She's still getting money. She's still listed. What? Anyway? Topic for another day. We were hopeful that maybe Vicky would write some of these wrongs and guide the board. You know she is not the board. You know she's on the board, but maybe have some influence over what happens next, and that doesn't appear to be what's happening.

Preston Lewis 9:25
Well, I just think it's difficult. You know, goes back to when Angela came on the pod. There was a, you know, very I think I liked her message, which was, you got to get in there from the inside and switch this. But given that governance, the way that works, where basically only what SLPs get to choose one two seats out of this 16, the rest are just there by acclimation. It's like, Here you go. By the way, we picked all these people for you. Hope you like them. It's, you know, I use the term, but this is a self looking ice cream cone, and so. So no matter how well meaning you know, Vicki may be to come in there, I think that it's trying to change that thing. It's it's like this beast that just kind of has to be fed. And I empathize with that. But at the same time I think about those people on the board, it's like, Gee, you just kind of want to keep running the same pyramid scheme here. Looks that way,

Jeanette Benigas 10:22
And that's the other thing. Like none of these people on this board made this mess. I was thinking over dishes this morning, and it's still very early. I'm not even awake, which is why you guys don't hear me screaming. One argument that we hear, especially from people in academia, is that Asha does a lot behind the scene so you don't know what they do. And to me, that's a transparency issue. We should know what they do. This is why voting record in Congress is public. You can look up which way people have voted for a reason for accountability, so you know who you want to vote to represent you. This is a membership association. Why? Why is everything secret? But also, all we did was ask them to price their product and their membership appropriately. That's all we did. We didn't give them a price point. We didn't tell them to do something unreasonable. All we did was ask them to be transparent with their finances and price their product accordingly. That's not, in my opinion, too much to ask. So then that begs the question, by then, them coming back and saying, we're not doing this. What the beep that out? Are they trying to hide? What? What exactly is the problem that we can't be transparent with the pricing and the way that we spend money. Why can't you do that? What's going on behind the scenes that is preventing that from happening? This is assumption, because we don't know the answer. This is my opinion, the reason they're not doing it is because they know they cannot sustain their salaries and the activities that they engage in, like sending a lawyer to a state board meeting in Delaware, they're paying her to do that. They can't do those things and continue to promote their own interests unless they have the funding, and they know that they won't have that funding through membership dollars. Take a look at ot take a look at PT, their membership associations hover right around 30% we're at 98% membership. That is a huge loss of revenue if they start charging fair market value, which is probably around $200 for the membership people are going to quit, and that changes the entire structure. It changes the entire picture of what Asha is, what people get paid, and what they do, and what it would force them to do is really focus on the issues. You only have so much money. You have to prioritize, stop jacking around in the Delaware State Board meeting and start doing the things that clinicians are asking you to do. But there's a lot of money and a lot of power at stake here, and this is why they're not doing it, because they have us captive to that CCC where they can charge whatever the hell they want to and use that money however they see fit.

Preston Lewis 13:44
Well, they wouldn't be able to, as they had on a tax statement recently, be able to spend over a million dollars in catering on catering. Yeah, this is, this is your National Association.

Jeanette Benigas 13:55
The Hell

Preston Lewis 13:56
yeah.

Jeanette Benigas 13:58
How many SLPs are shopping at Walmart and Aldi to eat right now? Well, we're spending that much money in catering>

Preston Lewis 14:08
right?

Jeanette Benigas 14:08
Come on.

Preston Lewis 14:10
And for everybody that shows up at the national conference that's paying a fortune to get in there, well, I you know they're really getting ripped off. If they're getting a rubber chicken there for free, sorry, that's

Jeanette Benigas 14:19
You don't get fed at the conference.

Preston Lewis 14:20
You don't get fed, No.

No. So where is this food going? Who's getting fed here? I, you know, that's the thing. And I We hear this all the time from those like you said, that are still in that academia circle that are very I call them the fanboys and the fan girls. They want us to judge Asha by their definition of good intentions or their labor that they have, but they're not asked. You know, it's like you can't judge them by their intentions and what they're doing. Well, no, I'm sorry. In the real world, we judge things by its results. I may be as benevolent as I say, and I want to do all these great, idealistic things that are high minded for the field. Yeah, but at the end of the day, like you said, we have a national association whose revenue is pretty much almost double PT and OT we I mean, they're almost equals when you put them together, of those two disciplines, and yet, do we have any greater results with our reimbursements? Are our working conditions better? Are we? Are we really getting a bang for our buck there? Hell no. I mean, we're down in the muck with them. And I know when they come back, all the defenders say, well, it's not their fault. It's the fault of Congress, and they've not done this. Hey, I get it. I get what Congress is all about. But we've spent, you know, we've spent $2 on the dollar here compared to our other associations, and the result is not there. And so when you dig into those numbers, and you see, Jesus, we're paying over a million dollars in catering. We've got a former CEO who's still flying around in the golden parachute and getting paid obscene amounts of money. And you ask questions, and that's that's really what this is about. This is a conversation about, hey, maybe this Well, the way you're charging this certificate, and you're really kind of doing a loss leader business model, only charging $29 for membership and everything else goes into this bloody certificate, maybe it's not a good use of the money when you send lawyers out to go try to, you know, keep your certificate ensconced in there. These are the questions that are being asked, and the answers are just very murky. You know, we had a meeting, and we decided not to do this, and we're going to change our rules, but when we tried to change the before, noone liked them, so we're still going to change the rules.

Jeanette Benigas 16:36
Yeah

Preston Lewis 16:36
This is mysterious.

Jeanette Benigas 16:38
We're going to do what we want now,

Preston Lewis 16:40
Right. Go away.

Jeanette Benigas 16:42
We tried to do it the right way, and y'all said no. So now we're just gonna go ahead and do it anyway, and we're gonna change the monopoly rules in the middle of monopoly.

Preston Lewis 16:53
Yeah, yeah. So if I'm asked to judge them by the results, and I'm a medical SLP, that's out here in the sniff. Um, yeah, thanks a lot. I really appreciate that. That 90% productivity that I'm slamming down and haven't had a pay increase in 10 years. Yeah, your results just fantastic. Thank you. Keep it coming. This is really working for me, and if I'm Judging You by in your intentions, wow, you don't seem very honest, you don't seem very open, you seem very insular. It's still about the pointy headed academic elites that are up there in the high towers who sip the coffee and eat their million plus dollars in catering. And just say, You know what? We understand the profession better than you. Go back down there to your 90% productivity. Go back to your lack of any kind of increase in pay, because we're going to keep bringing that money in. You're only confident if you can pay us $250 a year. Take that and go away. That's the message, sorry, we're going to ask questions. We've got a thriving membership that wants us to ask these questions. You know, Jeanette, I'm gonna go down the rabbit hole for a moment here. I love our members, but it does show sometimes this SLP mentality, and you get these messages like, what are we gonna do about this? You know, now the Department of Education may be under, you know, assault. What's fixed? SLP, going to do about this? We love the communication. We want to hear from you, but sometimes I always want to say, well, I know we've been dealing with big daddy ash all these years, but Jeanette got not going to be big mama fix SLP. It doesn't mean don't contact us. It means that the answers lie within us. We are not going to be this massive association that sucks up all these dollars and tells you to go out there and just go into the salt mine and we'll take care of everything. No, we want to show you how to empower it. We want to show you how to get involved with your state association. We want to show you how to go beat down the door of your local state rep and say you're going to get higher reimbursements, and that's what we want to do, but it does show that there's this paternalistic attitude that still is pervasive at times, and wow, we need to get away from that, because I think that's kept us mired down. And you've talked about that the whole time. Jeanette.

Jeanette Benigas 18:57
It's why we came up with the tagline, we don't wait for change. We make it Yeah, so we know where we're headed. Now this was not a surprise. We knew that they were not going to make these changes. We knew it would be a fight. We were well prepared with what comes next. We know it's going to be a fight, but we will not be silenced, and we will not back down. And for as long as SLPs want this fight for autonomy, as long as they want this fight for transparency in pricing, because, let's be honest, there are still SLPs out there who have to buy the CCC for whatever reason. And so that's why we've engaged in this particular fight, because not everybody can let it go yet. So while you have to buy it, you at least should be paying fair market value. And so here we are. So for as long as you all want this, we will. Fight on your behalf, and next to you

Preston Lewis 20:03
Very good.

We are officially allowed to say that we have engaged legal counsel. We have been using your sustaining partnership money to do that, and will continue to do so. You probably will not hear another update from us on the petition until 2025 but when you do, you can expect that we will probably be asking for more money if this is a fight that SLPs want to take on. Remember, if you want more complete updates, you can subscribe to our email list at www.fixslp.com, scroll to the bottom, type your name in the box and click the arrow. If you do not receive a confirmation, that means you're already subscribed. So you may want to check your spam box. Thanks for fixing it, everybody!

Transcribed by https://otter.ai