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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
Jeanette Benigas 0:00
Hey fixers. I'm Dr. Jeanette Benigas, one of the cofounders of fix SLP. Our platform exists to discuss 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 this movement to make things better one conversation at a time. So let's fix SLP.
Hey, everybody, welcome back. This is Jeanette, your host of fixed SLP. I've got a co host today. I've got Preston Lewis. This was not planned. This was like a last minute add on because the people love Preston, and some of what we're going to talk about today he's interested in, and then we have a guest, Elizabeth Nielsen from tiny voice therapy will give her a chance to introduce herself. But first I want to read a review. This is from M to one T three, one. And that person says, fix SLP gives SLPs out in the field of voice in order to promote change to better the field not only for therapists but our clients as well. This podcast has such valuable information has brought therapists nationwide together and promotes collaboration. Definitely give it a listen. Well, thanks. Thanks for that. Alright, Elizabeth, who are you? Where are you from?
Elizabeth Nielsen 1:29
I'm Elizabeth Nielsen, I became a speech language pathologist graduated in 2012. I knew I always wanted to work in private practice, but kind of started off in a clinic setting. But then during my CF year, it was a little chaotic, wasn't getting my supervision or anything. So then I left that halfway through, started working in the schools, and then started to open up my own private practice part time, I'm just about an hour west of like the Chicago area, started to just do a lot of home visits. So we were I was working out of my house and then started to want to incorporate horses into my speech therapy practice. So then it just took a couple years of looking for property. So finally back in 2019, found a farm, built a barn at the end of 2020. And now able to incorporate horses into my practice. love what I do work with a lot of autistic individuals that aren't on speaking and use communication devices, working with feeding as well. apraxia just kind of a variety of things right now. And so it's just been a ton of fun.
Jeanette Benigas 2:46
What we're doing, you're my hero. I mean, maybe I do. Some of the things I do are scary to people, but you're like, Oh, I just bought a property and I build a barn. That is so terrifying to me.
Elizabeth Nielsen 3:00
No, it was it was hard work. I thought it was never gonna happen because it was just years of searching. And I was like, well, maybe this isn't meant to be. And then something worked out where there's two houses on the property. So that little clinic that I'm in right now is like I converted it into the clinic. And then on the weekends we also Airbnb it out to people and they can hang out on the farm.
Jeanette Benigas 3:24
So yeah, I need your business acumen, please.
Preston Lewis 3:28
The Airbnb that sounds like fixed SLPs roadtrip. Yes, absolutely. I'm there.
Jeanette Benigas 3:35
And I love Chicago.
Elizabeth Nielsen 3:37
Yeah. And we're right there. I mean, we seem so far away from everything, because we're in a town of like, 400 people, but like, we're so close to so much. And so I'm able to so many people from just even an hour west from me, I'm getting people because the more west you go, the less services there are, the less resources there are. So I kind of cover a wide range of individuals from everywhere.
Preston Lewis 4:02
Elizabeth, at the risk of I don't want to violate HIPAA, but I know one of the horses names is Eli, can we find out the rest of the horses names?
Elizabeth Nielsen 4:12
Yeah, so I got Eli Eli has actually blind in his right eye. So he's my special boy. And then we have Bob, Bob's a popular one, essentially, because like my little one that's easy to say. So they're like, come on Bob, and they'll yell at him. And so it's pretty cute to hear a little three year old on the horse. They're trying to direct this big thing. Then we have tater, and then we have Piper. So those are the four horses that we have, but sometimes we're not on the horse. So sometimes we might be on for like 10 minutes. And so then we might go around the farm, we might feed all the other animals because oh gosh, right now we have 12 Pigs, nine goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and then a bunch of Barn Cats. So we have a lot to talk about around the farm.
Preston Lewis 4:57
Along with being a clinician you've also done a lot of fundraising that make this happen, and I noticed that you had some drives, tell me a little bit about that.
Elizabeth Nielsen 5:05
Because at this property didn't have a barn, I knew that I was gonna be like a huge expense on my end. And it's something that like, I did this on my own like didn't have the support of or didn't have the help of like my husband to help me with that. It's just like this is my business. This is the expense. So but just to help with some of those expenses. I know I've done a few fundraisers, Little Caesars, like the pizza making kits, I've done cards for a cause where you get like 30 cards and sell like just different fundraisers just to help with some of those expenses. Because of no reimbursement rates moving, everything's kind of been stagnant. I've been in private practice for 10 years now, and haven't seen any movements with the insurance. So just kind of helping with some of those additional expenses, because it is a lot of expenses to incorporate the horses, but it's a passion of mine. And so I know I had to take that hit, but knew that it was totally worth it for my clients and and the families to not just the clients. So there are no additional reimbursements for your type of therapy are there? No, because so hippotherapy is just a tool, like just as if we were to use an exercise ball or a trampoline. So let's just speak, I'm billing for just speech therapy. But just utilizing the movement of horses is what hippotherapy and that's where sometimes there's like a misconception to have like people thinking like, oh, you're a hippotherapist. And it's like, no. And that's where just the semantics of it gets a little confusing, because it's not a standalone therapy. It's just a tool, Elizabeth. So the reason why I asked you on today is because if our fixers have been paying attention, I announced earlier this week, that you approach NPR, with some of what's going on in your area, and got us out into the media. So I wanted to know about what propelled you to do that, and have you tell us what your process was. So if other people want to do that, too, they kind of know what to do. After ASHA, raise their rates. I saw some a comments of like, we need to take this to the media. What do we need to do? How can we do this? And originally to I was like, Yeah, I need to reach out. But like thinking more broader of like more national news, how can we do this, but I know that's, that might be a little bit harder, just because maybe these national news networks aren't going to pick up on a story. But then I was like, oh, light bulb moment, my friend. And I'm going to shout him out Jason crew gear. He is the morning host edition for our local NPR station. So I emailed him. So that was like February 10. I reached out to him. I was like, Hey, I think we have a story, kind of give him a little bit of a rundown. And he follows my speech therapy page. So he kind of knew. And a couple days later, he reached back out, he's like, I know someone that can help us. He was an education reporter. So he gave me his contact information. So I reached out to him, kind of give him more rundown and like, because of all the work, Jeanette that you and Meghan did, like you laid that groundwork for me to have like, to be confident of like, this is a story. This is a case. How can we get this out to not just SLPs? How can we get it out to the public? And so, um yeah, so I reached out to him, he responded right away. He was like, yes, like, I'm super passionate about all the things in Illinois that we're going through, especially with early intervention. And like no reimbursement rates are just no movements, and that all those problems. So originally, when I reached out to him, I was like, I want to go anonymous, because of fear. And I think maybe that's what a lot of us are kind of going through or maybe by maybe a lot of people aren't reaching out to local networks or nationally, there is fear. You don't want your job in jeopardy. But then I slept on it. And I was like, this needs to be told, I work for myself, I can't fire myself. So I don't know where the repercussions are gonna be. But it needs to be told. And so then I was like, Yes, I want to go on record. And I reached out to a couple of my other friends. So shout out to Audrey Meyers, Bethany Rasmussen, Candice Grudowski. And I reached out to you, Jeanette. And I feel like that kind of helps get like a stronger story, because I'm not just told my story. But it told the stories of SLPs that are leaving the field. And that's the reality. And we can't be sugarcoating this like it's happening because of just our work conditions. So really grateful for my friends that also went on record with him. We met about a week later after we kind of talked, we talked about an hour and I kind of again gave him all the statistics that you gave him. I was also doing my own research on just everything the financials of ASHA things that were just like this seems sketchy. Like there's just shifty stuff happening. Especially, I found this depressing A while ago, but like the the land and building financial part of Asha, like millions and millions of dollars going to land like where's this land? What are you doing with this land? How are we benefiting from this land so so yeah, it just it was really great to talk with him about everything that research that you guys have done what I have done just talking with other speech therapists in the field. And then he was reaching out to all the other speech therapists. And then about a month later he came out to my farm, he just wanted to see the day of the life of a speech therapist, what is involved, he was only here for an hour, but talking about just everything that we all have to do every single day, especially as a small business owner, I do it all, I don't have any admin just trying to get through the day with seeing clients billing, and then trying to advocate for ourselves. And so it's, it was great that he was able to come get some recordings here. And then came out with the story about a month later. And so that was kind of the process that I took. And I'm really glad that I at least got a story started because this is just a local story, this hits. So if anyone's familiar with Illinois, it's just like about an hour west. And then an hour north of Illinois of Chicago is like the listening coverage area. And he wanted to just talk to Illinois speech therapist. So like, yes, it's just focused on Illinois. Obviously, all the things that were happening in Illinois is happening nationally. So how can we get this out to a wider listening area, but at least we have a story that we can share to get that out to a wider listening area.
Jeanette Benigas 11:48
It's such a good story. And I think it's, it's a good it is a good first step because not that it needs to be copied, but it's at least something other reporters could look to. And you know, maybe there's a healthcare spin, maybe there's a bigger education story, maybe it's pediatric or adult specific, who knows, or maybe it's just SLP specific, but at least it's a start and kind of a model for, for what's going on and people can expand from there.
Elizabeth Nielsen 12:16
Yeah, cuz the general public, don't even really know like what we do in our field. And they don't know the scope of everything that we do. And so at least this is a start because it does cover private practice nursing homes and people that are leaving the field and how that can impact so many people. So I really liked that it, it covered a wide range of things. But I think I would like for more of the ASHA part to be covered too. And I think that's where more of those questions should be addressed to ASHA.
Jeanette Benigas 12:48
Mmmm... the elephant in the room.
Preston Lewis 12:52
Peter did a great job on this story, because one of the mistakes that I made. Now, I will say right away, once you're in Jeanette circle, she will contact you 15 different ways. And so I'm driving home from work, I get this quick text message, hey, check out this story. I'm an old radio guy. So I listened to the audio and the story, which was great. But then later on, I thought, oh, there's a text version. So I want to encourage any of our listeners, if you listen to the story, great. But there's a lot more context once you read the actual story. And that gets into some of those responses. And that's an interesting thing. And I think Peter was very open with you as a reporter to share some of that insight about what ASHA's responses were.
Elizabeth Nielsen 13:37
Yeah um. Yeah, the audio is definitely different from the article. And again, this is just a local radio station, they could have easily done like an hour report on it. But obviously, they have so many other stories. So they're just going to focus on six minutes, or however long the audio part was. So I reached out to Peter than couple about a week ago just asked him like, cuz I know, he reached out to Asha. And I was like, Well, I wonder if there was more information that he was able to get from them. So he's like, Yeah, I'll be happy to tell you about it. And I even asked him like if it was okay if we shared this on the podcast, because obviously, this is information that he was talking with with Asha. And he was completely on board with me sharing all the information. So if you guys don't mind, I can kind of so I kind of laid out like a lot of questions that I had. And so I think he addressed a lot of those questions with Asha. Jeanette, I don't know if you pose any questions that you wanted Peter to ask ASHA at all.
Jeanette Benigas 14:46
I didn't. I knew that he was going at the time that we talked he had said he had reached out and there still had not yet been a response. But I just stuck to the I try. First of all, I tried to stick to the facts that we had very specifically researched and had an answers to and links. So he had a lot of questions for me. And I answered those questions, and there wasn't really time for me to give opinions or give my own question. So, no, I didn't send any questions for me.
Elizabeth Nielsen 15:15
And I think some of the things to then like here and questions, too. So I think this is like kind of a combination of everything. So he mentioned how a lot of SLP see the see as redundant, because they're already licensed to these like, like, you all literally don't know what you're paying for outside the digital sector next year name. So he asked them to explain what tools and services SLPs get when they pay for a certification. And they respond with you get their advocacy, professional research and resources to help with billing. So that was the first question the first answer. And it's kind of funny too, because I had somebody from Isha reached out to me last week and wanted to see if I can be on the board for like the billing and reimbursement committee. Honestly, I just joined a show recently, because I'm like realizing that Asha, can't do every they can't advocate for everything at the state level, they just can't. And so we all need to join our state associations and get involved in those areas. So when they said that the see is you get your their advocacy, they talk a big game of saying that they do but it ultimately boils down to they can't they can't possibly do advocacy that impacts all of the clinicians. So that was kind of troubling, just hear that answer, because we aren't seeing it at the state level. And that's where we all need to become members, our state association and get involved.
Preston Lewis 16:40
I think that when it comes to the subject of advocacy, yes, they are going through the motions at the national level. But it's reminds me of that old saying in Texas, they're all hat and no cattle. And I really think for all of the big talk, I think there's a place for some honesty about the dysfunction in Washington DC that exists. And then encouraging therapists like we have been to seek out to your local state chapters, because that's where a lot of the reimbursement talk is really going on at the grassroots and can make a bigger difference.
Elizabeth Nielsen 17:15
So this one, I had to like reread a couple of times, because that was - it was just the wording was weird. So he asked why professional development isn't included in membership. And this is their, quote, a huge reason members associate together is to learn the questions for the member leaders who serve as the stewards of their associations become, what's the best way to approach learning to ensure all members thrive? And how does and they put in quotes, professional development, and then in parentheses, or formal continuing education fit? Ultimately, it boils down to choice, should the association pick what education is provided and charge all members more on their annual membership fees for it? Or should the association foster an ecosystem of learning with many professional development offerings where members can choose what's best for them? And it's kind of funny, we're the last line of where members can choose what's best for them.
Jeanette Benigas 18:13
Hmm, yeah, but you can't choose if you want the CCC? That's not definitely we know what's right for you there. But okay, open up your your what's the Online Education portal that they already have? I don't use it. You can find me on there teaching, I can assure you I'm not making money from it. What is it called?
Elizabeth Nielsen 18:35
The Learning Pass?
Jeanette Benigas 18:36
Yes, thank you. Um, yeah, that's the learning paths. And then people can choose what courses right and if they don't want to use it, then they can use Medbridge or you speechtherapypd.com. One of those- no loss. They can choose, they can choose ASHA's portal or not. There's still choice.
Elizabeth Nielsen 18:56
Yeah. There's over 800 courses on the learning paths, like give us 20 of those courses, give us five in pediatrics, five in sniff? What harm is that?
Jeanette Benigas 19:09
Or the supervision? One that they require for their CCC? Or the ethics? Have a handful of true really well done ethics courses that are in the areas that we really need? Not as a response to fix SLP because we're coming down hard on you. And then all of a sudden you have this free course. Which was it? It wasn't even the full amount of time that you need Correct?
Elizabeth Nielsen 19:37
It was half of a credit? And you only had like you couldn't register it but you only had the month of March to actually take it. And I don't know about you, but March was crazy for me. I registered for it. But I didn't have time to take it. Like why can't you just offer that for the whole year then have access to it?
Jeanette Benigas 19:54
And that's half a credit. No one else is going to find another half credit. It's going, they're gonna end up then having it there's not a problem with having more ethics courses than you need. That's wonderful. But come on.
Elizabeth Nielsen 20:09
Yeah.
Jeanette Benigas 20:10
Come on. I can't.
Elizabeth Nielsen 20:10
Yeah.
Preston Lewis 20:11
That that is the definition of bread crumbing.
Jeanette Benigas 20:13
Yep.
Elizabeth Nielsen 20:14
I asked them about being. So this is Peter talking, I asked him about being a member without certification and how it means they have to sign off that they won't be a practicing clinician, if they choose that option. I asked if that's enforceable if the clinician already has a state license, and then they didn't really answer that question.
Jeanette Benigas 20:30
So I'll pop in with that just Yeah, I have covered it over and over again on the platform. But we're always getting new listeners. And I think probably Peter had some misunderstanding here, because it is very confusing. I'm shocked that Asha didn't clarify. But that option is for non practicing SLPs. It's really reserved for people in academia, who are researching with PhDs who are part of the profession, but who are never going to see a patient or a client, but they can use the access to research, they can be a, you know, a part of the club, but not have to pay more than they need. Because they don't need the CCC, it's 399 individuals are members without certification. And this brings us to that inflated practice that they have as well. And maybe that's why they didn't want to answer. First of all, the purchase of the CCC is a purchase price of a product, it isn't dues. And so then it's very inflated. It's really, I don't know, another day, but
Elizabeth Nielsen 21:43
ASHA will say like, Oh, well, we're we're giving you a discount on membership, when you have your C,
Jeanette Benigas 21:48
right.
Elizabeth Nielsen 21:49
It's $26 and it's $84 for the membership without the say, so people are wanting to save $141 and just be a member without the See you can't.
Jeanette Benigas 21:59
Right.
Preston Lewis 22:00
This is where I look at the inverse of the voluntary versus involuntary. And this is the inverse. And I guess for those 300 people, did they? Are they incompetent? I don't know that. I think that's where Elizabeth and I perhaps came to a Nexus when we first got acquainted is that, to me, the very terminology of clinical of, you know, or certificate of clinical competence. It has a demeaning aspect. I don't know. Does anybody else feel that way?
Elizabeth Nielsen 22:29
Yeah. Because, you know, I supervise grad students. So if I decide to not have my C, I can't supervise a grad student that doesn't have it. But does that make me less competent clinician, because I don't have the see.
Jeanette Benigas 22:46
Right
Elizabeth Nielsen 22:47
and then you're reducing that pool of grad students that can access supervisors, if many are dropping that. And they're already having a hard time trying to find placements, they're struggling.
Jeanette Benigas 23:02
Yeah.
Elizabeth Nielsen 23:03
I provide like a unique experience to like using the horses, and I'm only 25 minutes from the university that I work with. And they have a very close relationship with them. And yeah, like, does that make me less competent? And I say no, like,
Jeanette Benigas 23:21
Yeah
Elizabeth Nielsen 23:22
I do all the work that I need to for my state license.
Jeanette Benigas 23:26
Preston, to answer your question. Are these members without certification less competent? No, because most of them have PhDs. So in ashes, eyes, they are the most confident because they have joined the academy and done the work to prove their competency and ongoing competency with publications.
Preston Lewis 23:52
It reminds me that old lines from Animal Farm, you know, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Elizabeth Nielsen 24:03
Yeah, absolutely.
Preston Lewis 24:05
There's my Orwellian contribution
Jeanette Benigas 24:08
And listen. we get some critical feedback, it's fine. I have a PhD, I've joined the academy, I've put out research. So I'm not saying that those things are bad. They're highly needed. And they are, they are the foundation of our evidence based practice. It's very important for these folks and my colleagues to be doing that work. The problem becomes, again, topics for another day. When they're viewed as more competent in academia. They don't really have the most up to date information on all the things they're teaching and, you know, we we can deal with those issues in SLP later that doesn't have anything to do with the CCC, but we all know there's problems there too. So that's not to diminish the work of our folks who are members without certification because they are doing very important work. But there's only 399 of them.
Elizabeth Nielsen 25:07
Yeah
Jeanette Benigas 25:07
Because at the end of the day, a lot of unless you're at these big R1 institutions, a lot of professors are also supervising in the clinic. So they have to have their CCC.
Preston Lewis 25:21
Peter was really hopeful that Asher was going to take some accountability on this voluntary question, wasn't it?
Elizabeth Nielsen 25:27
Yeah. Well, and he was really disappointed too, because when he first reached out to them, and he, and they said, Well, everyone that would talk with you, or they're either traveling or at a conference, and he's like, I don't buy that. Loni. Like, for how long for months? Like,
Jeanette Benigas 25:46
and, they all work from home? Yeah. When you look, when you sit in these, these town halls that they have, or you meet with them, one on one, they all have Asha sponsored backgrounds, or they're in their offices. At home. No one works in that office, that we pay millions of dollars. $87 million. Nobody's there. So it's not like, oh, they left the office. They can't answer. They can't answer an email. You know, they're all hotspotting. They've got a hotel. Come on. That's complete bologna.
Elizabeth Nielsen 26:22
Well yeah. And they're like, well send us an email, we'll answer the questions, but then it's like, then they have time to formulate an answer without being put on the spot with some of this stuff. This like, very calculated, almost like a riddle with some of these answers. It's like how the chat GPT answer, right? Like, I feel like I'm in an escape room, and I'm trying to figure out how to get out of here with this answer that you're giving me? Um, so yeah, so he was a little disappointed that they never, he was never able to like, talk to them about a lot of this stuff. He asked why they turned off Facebook reviews, and they said it was because of, quote, misinformation and inaccuracies. But then they didn't explain what that meant, which they've kind of touched base on their Facebook posts about why they took it down. I was lucky enough to actually record all those reviews, because I was just sick that day. So I was scrolling through and I just hit record on my phone. And I kid you not. As soon as I stopped recording, I went to go back to see if there was like more reviews because I want these voices to be heard. I want to be able to like, get all like, over 600 reviews. A voice. I kid you not as soon as I stopped, I checked, and then the reviews were gone. As like, Wait, hold that and I thought it was like something on my part. But no, they took down those reviews. And it's kind of funny with like the article that they came out in 2015 on the ASHA wire of how to deal with a negative review. What did they say? So one little section. And even more important, bad reviews are an opportunity to prove the validity and competence of your practice to patients. Oh, here's a part with like handling the haters. Responding to negative comments, it's not just about putting out the fire, it's also a chance to highlight your commitment to patient satisfaction. And we're customers. We're paying for a product and we're not satisfied with this product. So, we love for reviews, I left a review.
Preston Lewis 28:33
Labeling that as misinformation to really is you think there's an added element of being insulted there, because it's a pretty good bet that 99% of those reviews were being left by SLPs.
Elizabeth Nielsen 28:47
So we're just invalidated
Preston Lewis 28:50
Invalidated and silenced. And that's when I first saw your name because you were fired up.
Elizabeth Nielsen 28:55
Oh, yeah. I guess we teach our I mean, I kind of refer back to like what I'm doing with my students with my clients of self advocacy. We came from a generation of like, children should be seen and not heard. So we finally have this voice and we're being seen as bullies. When it's like, this is how we're feeling right now. And now you're shutting us you're silencing us and you know, we teach our my clients to be advocates for yourself and we need to validate those feelings. Somebody might be feeling mad, and that's okay. And so it's just so frustrating right now of we're being silenced. We're not like respond to all those reviews, comment on it. That's what we want. We want responses. We want a human to like validate all of the problems that we're having in our field
Jeanette Benigas 29:53
and stop saying that the people w ho are using their voice are bullies or angry or loud or problem... problem, I was gonna say problem solvers. That is exactly what we are not what I meant to say.
Preston Lewis 30:07
I was intrigued by something. And we don't have to add this if it's too off topic, but there was a recent ASHA Facebook post about their tranche of candidates for the board. Yeah. And it had no biographical information, it had nothing about any platform of any of these people. It just said, here are the list of people. And we're open to comments. And it does seem perplexing. And there were no comments, because I have no information about these people. They're just names on a page. Did you get that sense as well?
Elizabeth Nielsen 30:41
Yeah, we have no say anything on that.
Jeanette Benigas 30:44
It's always like that. They just give you the names. There's never any anything. And then they complain that people don't vote. What are you voting for?
Preston Lewis 30:53
We're only voting for what one of is it? One of 14 members. So it's a at large seat of just less than 10% of the board. That's the voice that we have. It just seems so arcane. I almost wonder, you know, I've not seen this LEED certified building in Maryland. But when they make their decision, because they're like, you know, some sort of color of smoke coming out of the top of the building, like we're picking up hope.
Jeanette Benigas 31:17
That would be amazing.
Elizabeth Nielsen 31:20
Oh, my gosh
Preston Lewis 31:21
You really dug in though, you dug in there? And I have to admit, I never thought another speech therapist would send me tax forms to look at. That was incredible.
Elizabeth Nielsen 31:30
My husband's like, healthy. Well, he said one thing to me right away that you were a business owner, you were an entrepreneur.
Yeah. I mean, I was spending so much of my free time, my free time I put in quotes, because it's like, yeah, what free time but like I was spending a lot of time just digging into their financials, because it's there. It's open to the public, but there's still so many questions with it.
Jeanette Benigas 31:51
A lot of people were the amount of financial information about Asha, that was sent to me financial documents and comments and questions was huge.
Preston Lewis 32:01
But that's healthy. We're members,
Elizabeth Nielsen 32:03
I have it pulled up building and building land improvement is 30, over $37 million. Computers and software is $19 million. They all need to have really good. You have 14 execs, you have 300 employees, but none of them are available.
Jeanette Benigas 32:23
They're all traveling
Elizabeth Nielsen 32:25
Exactly. To the land, to the land that's 8 million dollars, furniture, 2 million, software, almost 2 million.
Jeanette Benigas 32:36
Because none of them are there. They all have to have the equipment and the software, and everything they need to be able to do their job effectively from their home offices. That's where all that money is going. It is going to people who live all over this country working for this corporate office that doesn't have anyone in it. I listen, I'm all for working from home. But I had not one of my companies that I worked for get I mean, I guess universities will give you a computer, but they're usually crappy. But that's it. That's all you get. So read us your comment.
Elizabeth Nielsen 33:11
Oh, yes. So my review, right is what you're talking about. So when I left a review, I said I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting insurance companies who deny communication devices for children. I'm tired of fighting to get insurance to prove just an hour of speech therapy a week. I'm tired of so many issues in our field that our association lacks to support us in we're fighting for our basic human right of communication. And yet our association stays silent. And then to top it off, our association raises our dues for next year. And for what two and then I put in quotes, because this is one that they quoted on to create new, personalized, more easily accessible professional tools, and quote that you'll make us pay for. I'd like Ashley to stand up for basic human rights and lobby for us to educate insurance companies. I'd like ASHA to stand up for all the struggling SLP is right now. I like ASHA to support us in so many other areas that I'm just too tired to list. My mental capacity has reached its limit.
Jeanette Benigas 34:07
So good.
Elizabeth Nielsen 34:09
And how is that inaccurate? That's my own feeling. Because I'm purchasing your product. And I'm not seeing the results.
Jeanette Benigas 34:16
And you You are truly you're purchasing that product to help them train more people to purchase their product. The second reason you I assume that's the only reason why you still have your CCC. Yeah.
Elizabeth Nielsen 34:29
Yeah, because in Illinois, you don't need it for billing. And so it is to help these grad students, I have a passion of helping these grad students. I enjoy doing that.
Jeanette Benigas 34:40
So let's talk about your grad students. You mentioned when we were kind of preparing that you have a student now and that you have been chatting with your grad students. So talk about that.
Elizabeth Nielsen 34:50
So, you know, I told her to like do your own research and make your own decisions. I try not to influence you one way or the other, but she was under the impression Shouldn't that this CCC is a license that she has to have this. And she mentioned like she's gonna get it. And that's good because it's the same process of getting your state license. So yeah, just get it. But her and her cohort, they're just concerned because they're scared. She said like fear of the unknown, even competence coming out of grad school, we know a little bit about many areas. So it can be challenging to feel competent in your first SLP job. And now just the added uncertainty about information about the sea, and then how will having or not having it be perceived as competent from your employers, and how it can affect salary. And just nervous to speak up about what's right. Everyone's nervous, and I was too and I'm like, I'm just tired. In my review, I'm tired. I don't care at this point, what people or what anyone thinks like, I'm just going to advocate for what's right. And I think that's, you know, again, you've laid the groundwork for all of that, because, hey, this is the information. This is all on our website, we can find all this information. This isn't any hidden agenda that we have. It's, we want answers from the association. So there's just a lot of fear for grad students.
Jeanette Benigas 36:14
Yeah, I think the best thing probably for them to do right now, if anyone's listening who has students with questions. A couple weeks ago, I did the CCC dilemma episode, which is specifically for students in CFs. And surprisingly, everybody sit down and brace yourself, I actually said they probably should get the CCC at least once go through the process, get it because we are not in an environment where it's quote, safe, to not have it at least once because not having it puts you in a pathway really to never have it. Asha does not have an avenue for you, especially if you've been supervised with someone without the CCC. Asha does not have a pathway for you to go back and get that supervision. Whereas they have that for audiologists. And I assume at some point that will have to be something that we take on as a community. But that's not our thing, right now. It's what you know, step by step, again, long game. So for now, a student, a CF should probably purchase the CCC and I talk through that. And I say you have the freedom even to wait a few years, you don't have to buy it right away. So give that a listen. The only thing I will say that I didn't know when I recorded it. And thank you to the CF who reached out to me and told me this makes me furious. These students are fed this thing where if you join this love for two years, you can get a conversion discount only if you are purchasing the CCC and membership. So you have you can't choose the non member option, the $199 option or whatever, I don't know what the new price is, you have to pay for both the CCC and the membership if you want the conversion, which is asinine, because when you are advertising this to these brand new grad students who had no idea they don't even know to ask that question or to figure that out. They just think at that point. This is something they have to have and it Oh, I hear it so expensive. insane to me. Insane, that also these NSSLHA memberships are expensive. What are they getting for that access to research, which tells me in my head that it actually cost the membership actually cost more than they're charging us? Right? inflated cost of the CCC deflated cost of the membership, that they're probably charging these students the actual cost of membership, the actual cost of what it takes to run that organization. Right? That's and probably that membership cost is inflated on their side so they can make more money. But we all know that $26 or $29 is not what it takes to run this organization. So yeah, you're you're taking all this money from the students, or in some cases where departments are picking up this cost. Now you're taking money from these departments who could be using that money on better education materials, better resources. You know, a million things don't get me started on the dysphasia courses my colleagues teach where they can't get the supplies they need to teach a good dysphasia course use the money there stop taking money from universities, our students should be enrolled for free for free. NSSLHA should be free.
Elizabeth Nielsen 40:01
Yeah, I mean, I paid for it. I was a NSSLHA member
Jeanette Benigas 40:04
I'm sweating now. I have on a sweatshirt no tee shirt, and I'm drinking hot coffee. I'm mess.
Elizabeth Nielsen 40:11
I know get can get your workout, that's for sure.
Jeanette Benigas 40:14
It just makes me so mad that you can't... ugh.
Elizabeth Nielsen 40:19
We did everything that it's going to be over $1,000 With everything that she's had to pay for and still has to pay for. That's license, Praxis, everything
Jeanette Benigas 40:29
and thinking critically, like after I talked to the CF, I, you know, I use my critical hat. And I'm like, well, it makes sense. It's a membership conversion. It's not a CCC conversion. It's a membership conversion. So if you're buying the NSSLHA membership, then you get a discount when you convert your membership from the CCC, or from this. CCC and membership, so they aren't lying. They are saying if you want that discount, you have to have the membership because it's a membership conversion. But it took me like having this moment of being super angry and then sitting down and be like, well, I guess it makes sense. It's a membership. They say it's a membership conversion, but people don't know the difference.
Elizabeth Nielsen 41:17
Yeah. And it's like a pat on the back like, Oh, look at us, we're giving you this discount. For, as a grad student who's already struggling financially, you're paying for us right now. And now, we'll give you a little discount.
Jeanette Benigas 41:30
And now it's their two year package. It's a two year package. So they wrote them in for two years.
Elizabeth Nielsen 41:39
Ah
Breathe through it Jeanette, breathe through it.
I know I can get fired up to about it. So he asked what they say to all the SLPs who don't feel like Ash is doing enough to advocate for them on the real issues that matter to them, like reimbursement rates, case loads production rates. He said they said a lot. But the dress was to reach out to their advocacy page. And that's where the problem is. It's like you we have these problems. And then they just guide you to like, Oh, look at this page without real answers pass the buck. Yeah.
Jeanette Benigas 42:12
It's all that bureaucracy to the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. And nobody knows anything. And sometimes it's then made up sometimes the answer you get is made up. It's not even the correct information. I'm thinking of someone who has been on the podcast, and I'm going to keep that person's name anonymous, because after having been on the podcast, someone from Asha reached out to them, and said, Oh, you need to be careful about X, Y, and Z because of this reason. And it wasn't even an accurate reason wasn't even like what this person was told. It was complete scare tactic. It wasn't true. This person who was telling our podcast guests this information, didn't know the correct information. I pulled up the page and sent it to the to our podcast guests and said this is off the ASHA website. So what that person just told you isn't even what their website says. Because the person was concerned. Yeah, yeah. I think that's why are afraid to speak out. Yeah, that's exactly that person freaked out. I got a call immediately after that person got off the phone with ASHA and was like, Oh my gosh, do we need to take this episode down? Am I gonna get in trouble? And I said, Hold on. This isn't right. I give me a minute to prove this to you. So yeah, yeah. Fear, actual looking fear.
Preston Lewis 43:40
We all have the, you know, dialogue that's going on between those of us on the fix SLP social networking. What, what kind of response are you getting from some of your colleagues just on the ground, Elizabeth?
Elizabeth Nielsen 43:54
I feel like they kind of have the same feelings that I do. Especially like, my friend Audrey. Like she works from nine different companies just because like they just don't have enough clients for her for the home health part. Like, that's a struggle for her. Bethany who left the profession, because just the working conditions was horrible. And so now she's much happier in a different position. Yeah, I mean, it's, there are people that I reached out to him, they were afraid to speak up because they're afraid to get in trouble. So what there is just so much fear right now. And how can we help reduce that fear? So that we can speak up for all of us and fight for us? I don't know.
Jeanette Benigas 44:49
So let's talk about one way that we can reduce fear, which was one of our goals of this episode was to have a big call to action because I love I love a call to action. Elizabeth and Preston, I think what you did with NPR is amazing. And I was already thinking we need to keep this moving. And then you had a call to action on your business account. Tell us about your call to action.
Elizabeth Nielsen 45:18
Yeah, so my call to action, because this NPR report is just at the local level, we all need to do our part, we all need to share the story, share it on your Facebook page, but don't just share it on your Facebook page, have a story of your own personal story attached to it, that might even grab somebody's attention, that is a reporter or does to keep the story going. Because if you just share the story without having any personal investment with it, then people aren't going to click on it. So sharing your own personal story while you share it, but then use that story to reach out to your local NPR stations. You know, I was lucky enough to know someone that works for NPR. i There's a link where you can even submit to, like you said Jeanette earlier, just like NPR has so many different channels and podcasts. And so maybe we can talk about like, hey, we all submit to this one podcast. Because we need numbers. We need numbers in every state. We need people to reach out to their local news networks, NBC, ABC, CBS, any of those even just locally like Chicago, because that's the thing. Our my, our local station doesn't even reach Chicago, and look at how many more people that we can reach. I think the listening area, probably you know, I am taking a guest by no Rockford has, like 150,000 people. So it's not enough. We need more people reaching out. And because we have the story like we at least have a starting point. And so the more that we're we have more stories it can make for a bigger case for more national news. And then once Ash is getting ahold of like, Oh, we're being contacted by all these local networks, we want answers. And maybe that will push them to give us accountability.
Preston Lewis 47:20
Beyond just ASHA, beyond just ASHA. I mean, we have a story to tell as speech therapists. Yes. And that's a positive thing. That's self advocacy.
Elizabeth Nielsen 47:30
Yeah
Jeanette Benigas 47:30
Can we manifest sitting on the Today show?
Elizabeth Nielsen 47:33
Yeah.
Jeanette Benigas 47:34
A trip to New York City, perhaps.
Elizabeth Nielsen 47:37
Let's do it.
Jeanette Benigas 47:38
So what we're gonna do, Elizabeth is we are going to get some resources. And I can't promise that this will be done by the time this episode airs. So you can check pics slp.com If you're hearing this, it may or may not be there, but we will have some resources. On the step by step process that Elizabeth took to reach out to her NPR station. We'll put that together for you to follow the same general process. Elizabeth, you were working on a template? Correct?
Elizabeth Nielsen 48:12
Yeah, I was gonna work on like a letter. Yeah. Basically sharing the story and other information just to grab somebody's attention.
Jeanette Benigas 48:20
Yep, we will have a link to that. We'll put that on our website as well. So you have sort of a cut and paste thing to start with. And so what's our call to action going to be Elizabeth, every NPR station in the US gets contacted at least once? I mean, we said sustaining partners give us 5000 New NPR stations every single one twice, like, right, right? Today Show!
Elizabeth Nielsen 48:47
So yeah, I mean for like, start somewhere. And like, that's where like, I was getting caught up of like, oh, I need to get this nationally. But like, let's all start locally, we need to spread the awareness, we need to spread the awareness to the just the general population, like you said, Preston, uh, just the struggles of what we're facing in our fetal no one knows. And so let's get that word out. And I think it'll just be a snowball effect, because it's gonna grab attention from someone that is higher up in some news capacity to take the story, because it is
Preston Lewis 49:20
And it helps tell the story. If I'm going to contact a state senator or a state representative. It helps to have those stories that are written for the general public to say, here's what we're dealing with. And it's not just one SLP who seems like they are just laying out a whole bunch of talking points. This is a public story.
Elizabeth Nielsen 49:39
Yeah. And I think that's what it helps to that it wasn't just my story, and there's many many more stories to be told. And we all need our voices to be heard. Let's tell the stories. Let's do it.
Fearless fixers are now also storytellers. Love it. Okay. Anything else, Preston?
Preston Lewis 49:56
No, I'm in great shape. Thank you.
Jeanette Benigas 49:57
Preston's on vacation everybody. He got in on this on vacation, which is so impressive.
Preston Lewis 50:03
I could not wait until this episode dropped. I wanted to just be here because I wanted to meet Elizabeth and I'm so tickled but I took the time to do it. Yeah.
Elizabeth Nielsen 50:12
Well, thanks for asking. I appreciate it.
Jeanette Benigas 50:14
Preston was the fearless fixers as much as they love him. I hope I don't get overthrown. Well, everybody we have I have I looked, I have four more scheduled recordings coming up. One is a state by state. So that'll be coming out probably by the time I record and edit. You can probably expect that at the beginning of May. Lots of good guests coming up. So we're just gonna keep on rolling. I have a plan for some good content that's coming. So just just keep checking on social media. Give us a five star rating and review if you love what we're doing, and I'll see you guys next time. Thanks for fixing it.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai