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We are discussing the biggest challenges that are currently holding back the field of speech-language pathology. We present the issues with facts and invite you to be a part of joining our movement to make things better, one conversation at a time. Let's fix SLP!
Hosted by Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP
Megan Berg 0:00
Hi, everyone. I'm Megan Berg
Jeanette Benigas 0:02
and I'm Dr. Jeanette Benigas.
Megan Berg 0:04
And we are here to fix SLP.
Jeanette Benigas 0:06
We are discussing the biggest challenges that are currently holding back the field of speech language pathology.
Megan Berg 0:12
We present the issues with facts and invite you to be part of joining our movement to make things better one conversation at a time.
Jeanette Benigas 0:19
Let's fix SLP.
Hey, everybody, thanks for joining us again. Megan and I are sitting in a coffee shop in Ohio, unplanned but a really happy opportunity to get to see each other and talk and figure out what direction we're going next and record this quick little Podcast, the podcast that we're recording now as this was planned, but the coffee shops closing soon. So this will be a quick episode. So we're together, yay. I want to start by thanking everyone who sent in screenshots and thoughts and questions about the live q&a that Asha had. During that time, Megan was unavailable. And I was driving home from work, which is an hour drive on mostly back roads with spotty reception. So by the time you listen to this, they will have released the replay. So we'll be listening to that we just weren't comfortable making any statements based on what was sent in to us. Because obviously, while those things were said by ASHA, or recommendations were made by ASHA, we were only getting small clips of the conversation. So we want to make sure we're not forming opinions or making statements without all of the facts. So we'll have some things to say about the live q&a Coming soon. As soon as we can both meet again, to talk about what we heard.
Megan Berg 2:02
Yeah, and we want to thank everybody who's listening who took the time to write a letter to the ASHA board of directors, we kept kind of a informal tally of people letting us know that they had been there's a man, we got to about 145 ish letters. So we think that's really wonderful. And we also want to point out that the deadline for submitting those letters was something that we just made up because the board of directors meeting is coming up. And so we wanted to get those letters in before they met. So they can have a chance to read them before they meet in person. But you can write a letter to the ASHA Board of Directors anytime you want, you could write one every day if you wanted to. I know a lot of us were talking about how the 500 word limit is a challenge. And I think they have that limit in place. Because otherwise letters get tend to get kind of long. And I think the best strategies to submit a letter that's focused on one topic in particular. So if you started writing your letter, and you sat down and you realized you had a lot of things that you wanted to express to the Board of Directors, I would just encourage you to take the time. Even if it's just a therapeutic task for you of just like writing one letter at a time focused on one topic at a time in the NICU feel like it you can send those in. But I think the power behind so many people writing about the same topic at once means that there's hopefully going to be a really great conversation at the board's in person meeting that starts tomorrow on October 18.
Jeanette Benigas 3:49
I actually want to jump in and say something, I think that we are already influencing at least conversation. Because what we did see happen from the time we started the call to action until the deadline was that Asha began to change their response. So there is an automatic, like form response that people get when they submit. But some people started to get a more customized response. We have some of that on our social media, although it's just under a post. So it might be hard to find. But we just thought that that was interesting that that they started to address it a little more directly. So I think that right there speaks volumes, because who knows how often they do that. And also, I think, from what we can tell there was mention of talk on social media in the live q&a as well. So they are aware, and there are that means they've already been talking about it, which is good. That's what we want.
Megan Berg 4:54
And for people wondering like, what was the response like what did they say and it's a very typical bureaucratic response where it's like, their basic, basically, we're acknowledging that the CCC is optional. And
Jeanette Benigas 5:11
but just Baloney,
Megan Berg 5:13
and not really taking any responsibility for the actions that the organization has historically taken to make it pretty much impossible to work as an SLP without their certification product. And not clarifying how they're spending money to lobby, like Medicaid insurance and state licensing boards to make the certification required. And not really addressing many of the concerns around like the evidence base behind it, although there's a conversation going on about that. Or we're tracking down the evidence that Asha is attributing to various parts of the CCC. So we're gonna look into that research and share that with you. Stay tuned for that. But I think again, for people who are like, like, why are we writing letters? Like, why aren't we taking stronger action? I think it's really important for anyone who cares about this conversation to know that it's a really long game. And it's, it's something where like Asha is used to the social media kind of uprisings happening, and then they fizzle out. There's a lot of like, really intense energy, and then it dies down and really intense energy and it dies down. And I think we just have to figure out how to be in it for the long run, and be really persistent. Because, you know, the board elections are going to be coming up again, soon, like people are always turning over things are always changing it Asha, it's always it comes down to like, who in the organization is able to have this conversation. And if we aren't persistent enough, and keep the conversation going long enough, and the right people are willing to have that conversation with us, that's where things can really get some momentum to change.
Jeanette Benigas 7:11
Yeah, so with this long game, what we what we need from everyone who's listening, is to keep sharing our information, our Instagram page, our Facebook page, our website, keep inviting your friends, keep telling your colleagues, keep the conversation going, keep talking about it, because this isn't something that can go away with a 24 hour news cycle, we need to keep growing, because we are planning a second call to action, we are taking the first steps to pull that together. And if with every call to action, we're going to need people and so we need to keep adding people to this movement. So we can make a bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger impact. You know, we're we're very quickly approaching 5% of the SLP population across Facebook and Instagram. So that's great. But you know, 5% will move the needle, but 10% will move the needle more, and 20% will move the needle more and, and so on. So definitely continue to share, continue to talk about it, we'll continue to put out content. But that's what we need. And so what we are talking about doing next, is beginning to engage the states. We are very actively putting together a list of all of the licensing requirements from every state. You saw maybe you saw, we had a story where I was asking for state emails and state presidents. And that is because I will be reaching out to all of the states. By the time you hear this, I might have already done it, to invite them on our podcast state membership is super important. It sounds like from the q&a, Asha kind of deferred any action to the States and was telling people well, you need to go to your state board about that. And I think I think states are struggling now I know I volunteer with my state organization in Pennsylvania, and states are struggling people are strapped for money, you know, not not everyone can join every membership association. So the the, the membership organization that gets left is typically the one at the state level because everyone perceives that you need to have the CCC. And the more people that leave the state association the less money they have to make changes like caseload workload caps requiring this ease I was talking with someone last night who reached out to me on social Flaminia who has a little more knowledge about this. And she said in their state, their lobbyists cost $90,000. So where does that money come from? And I think, to me, then with ASHA, just, well, you have to take it to your state, they know that the states can't make changes. They know exactly, they know exactly what's going on in the States. And so we can talk about that more as we move towards engaging the states. But we'd like to have people from the State Associations on talking about all the great work that they're doing in the states and what your membership could mean to them. And then we'll have some sort of call to action wrapped up in that. And that's, that's what we're still trying to figure out. Yeah.
Megan Berg 10:47
Yeah. And I think the important thing is to just remember that, like, we can't unstart This conversation, like, I think this conversation has started multiple times throughout the years of like, why are we why are things the way they are? Why are we doing this? Why do we have to pay this fee every year? What does it actually mean? But this, this time is different. And like, there's a lot of different ideas and language and people involved that haven't been involved before. And the momentum is just gonna keep going and going, especially the more that you share it with your SLP colleagues in, the bigger the movement becomes. We've been posting a lot about the historical framework of Asha and how it's really been an institution that highly values the voices of academia. And again, I want to clarify that like, it's not that people in academia have no clinical experience, but it's the fact that they have academic street cred, that they're able to be more likely to get on the ballot, to become president of Asha to have a lot of power and influence over the decisions that are made. And so the voices that are missing are really the voices of the clinicians that are every day clocking into work dealing with the very real issues that are going on in those issues are not being taken seriously. They're not being heard by Asha. And so we need to keep those voices really loud and really strong and keep the conversation going.
Because we've picked up on momentum that we haven't seen before. And I think there's, we're on our way to a reckoning of like, really, what do we want a national association to look like? Is the current system working for anybody really? And how can we make it better for ourselves and for next generations? So yeah, we can unstart the conversation.
Jeanette Benigas 12:54
And I think what Megan saying too, about people in positions of power, having these board positions, yet another reason to support your state, because while there are people in academia holding positions at the state level, there are also people working clinically full time holding state positions, there are student representatives, at the state level there, you know, there is a much more diverse makeup of the executive boards of the states. And so that's I feel like that is where the voice of the clinician is being heard the best. So yet another reason right there to, to think about finding out what's going on your state in in your state. And, you know, hopefully, we'll be able to highlight that had another thought. But,
Megan Berg 13:47
yeah, I mean, I just add, that we need a system where the state associations are, you know, because there are a more diverse set of voices. As far as practice settings in those state associations, they need to be fully supported by the National Association and not be kind of facing some of the barriers that practicing clinicians face when they try to get involved with Asha.
Jeanette Benigas 14:12
Yeah, I mean, it we've heard that on our social media, if people want to be involved, then they should volunteer, but it is very difficult to volunteer for Asha, I think I've mentioned that before. I have tried to volunteer for Asha. And actually just recently, I I just got an email after months and months of trying. I did get an email to submit an application to be looked at to volunteer for a cig. There's like a sick position coming open. But again, that's not just me volunteering, like I have to fill out this whole application send in my resume, like it's this whole rigmarole. And then I don't know if I I don't know if there's an election or if someone's chosen I stopped Eating because now that I'm part of this movement, I probably shouldn't be volunteering for Asha. And then sitting on this podcast yelling about App shuts up, I did decide I had to make that hard call.
Megan Berg 15:11
The other thing too is like, there's, there's we hear that approach a lot of like, we just need more practicing clinicians to volunteer. And I'm like, when you have a systemic issue in the organization, it's not taking practicing clinician seriously. It doesn't matter how many volunteers there are.
Jeanette Benigas 15:31
Yeah, and I mean, when you start to think about it, too, then then I have to wonder like, I am a practicing clinician, but I also have a place in academia with a PhD. So, you know, even if I got chosen to run for that position, or picked for that position, I'm, I'm right. I'm right there, almost contributing to the problem that already exists, where someone who is fully practicing, should be getting a volunteer position like that for that sick. So I don't know, it just felt a little gross to me. I just, I couldn't it wasn't sitting well, like if I were to get picked for this, am I contributing to the problem? And am I making it better? Also, this, the last three weeks have really taken over our lives. And so then I was like, Do I really have time to like fit in something else? Like this probably needs to be my priority. So but yeah, it's hard to volunteer for Asha. You can't just like call someone up and say, Hey, guys, I want to volunteer. Yes, there's like
Megan Berg 16:37
a form and then they pick you if they want to, and they tell you what to do. Because it's my understanding
Jeanette Benigas 16:43
Big Daddy Asha tells you what to do. So price. Yeah, it's it's, it's difficult to be chosen where as at the state level, they're just going to take you you know, these states are would love to have more volunteers. I know, at least in Pennsylvania. I that's probably the case. So,
Megan Berg 17:08
Montana, we do not have a president for next year. So if anyone would like to volunteer, that seat is open,
Jeanette Benigas 17:15
get on it. Get on it. We need a president in Montana will fully support you. We will, we'll be your campaign manager. will put you on a story on Instagram. Yeah, so that's, that's, I guess that's where we're at right now. Yep. And we're gonna shut down this coffee shop. Yeah, this coffee shop closes in two minutes. We've got about a 17 minute podcast. I mean, you listened if you listened last week, it was an hour and a half. So it all evens out. Right? It all evens out. But we wanted to be consistent. We want to be putting out a podcast every week to you know, touch base. But we didn't exactly have something prepared for today. But we still felt like it was important to to hold up our end of the bargain and do what we said we were going to do. All right that you want to wrap us up.
Megan Berg 18:12
Oh, I think that's it. I tried to wrap this up. Oh, and I just did my own thing. And then I just got on my tangent.
Jeanette Benigas 18:17
Then I just kept talking like I always do. So I guess I'm just gonna say thanks for fixing it. Thanks, everybody. Bye bye.