Just More SLP: Your Vision for the New Year

As 2024 comes to a close, join Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Preston Lewis, MA/SLP, as they celebrate Fix SLP’s remarkable achievements and share their vision for an empowering 2025. From significant Medicaid credentialing changes to progress in eliminating barriers like the CCC requirement, they reflect on the year’s milestones and discuss their excitement for the road ahead.

This episode features heartfelt wishes from listeners for the future of the field, actionable advice for clinicians at all career stages, and an inspiring call to elevate SLP voices, advocate for autonomy, and foster community. Jeanette and Preston discuss plans for a revamped website, a growing team, and expanded volunteer engagement, emphasizing the importance of resilience, collaboration, and meaningful change.

Whether you’re a seasoned SLP or just starting your journey, this episode will leave you energized and ready to help shape the future of the profession. Let’s fix SLP—together.

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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

Speaker 1 0:00
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!

Preston Lewis 0:47
Well, hello again. Fixers. Preston Lewis joining you. Doctor Jeanette Benigas with me as well. And we are almost to 2025 what a big look back for 2024 it's been a massive year in terms of fixed SLP, and Jeanette and I just didn't want to totally let the holiday season go without having another visit with you all and thinking about what our wish for 2025 is. Jeanette, it's great to see you one more time for 2024 what a year it's been,

Speaker 1 1:21
I know. I mean, we already did this in September, where we think back to all of the accomplishments that clinicians have made in this field, and that fix SLP has helped with. And so we didn't want to hash that again, and we won't. You can always go back to September and listen to our anniversary episode. That was September 25 but man, I think there's a lot that I've done that I've been proud of in my life, but fix SLP is definitely now up there at the top of that list with those couple of things. So it's just been great. And I we have so much planned. We know so many things are going to happen in 2025 that I don't like to wish my life away, but I can't wait to see what happens.

Preston Lewis 2:08
There will be ups, there will be downs, but I think for so many people, the message that we keep hearing, and one that in particular I've appreciated, are people who are finding a new zeal in their career to know that, wow, I can advocate for myself. I can make a difference by contacting my local state rep or state senator, showing up at licensing board meetings, advocating for what my license means, advocating for Medicaid reimbursement increases, for better clinical access in certain parts of our profession. So that, to me, is the biggest thing we've seen Jeanette is just a renewed spirit of I can do this. It's not just about me and the abusive rehab company I work for or the out of touch national association that just drains my pocket, I can make the difference, because for some of us that are just barely hanging on in this field, that's the message that we've all appreciated and fix. SLP, I think, is part of augmenting that message, but it's also a gathering of SLPs that just want to think differently. What a great place to be. We found our people.

Speaker 1 3:20
I know! I love it. I think although clinicians benefit from the work being done by the clinicians in the field, the girls up in Michigan making change, or Danielle, who we posted about this week, I forget what state she was in, but like getting her employer to lift the CCC requirement. There are so many people benefiting from the work inspired by fix SLP. But what is the coolest part is that I get to see all of it. I'm the only one who gets to see all of it, because people send us DMS and emails and communicate with us and and I'm the keeper of that information, and it's such a privilege and a blessing to just be a part of it that I wish I could share all of it all the time, but that would be impossible. But just know there, there are things happening all the time for the better that clinicians are benefiting from, that I can't possibly share it all. So I just feel so lucky that I've landed in this place and I can't, I can't wait to get those messages and DMS and emails in 2025 because it's gonna, it's only it's we're only going up from here.

Preston Lewis 4:35
And we'll have a new website at some point in 2025 as the website is under growing or undergoing a bit of a face lift, if you will. That's going to be fun, I could see. And I'm not trying to hold anybody into this, but I get the sense that the fixer family, as far as the nucleus of the family, could get bigger at some point. We've had some outstanding people come to the pod recently and visit with us, and that's great as well. So we have such a good team already, but who knows that team could grow this year?

Speaker 1 5:04
Yeah, speaking of the website, it is underway. It is being built fix. Our money has funded that, and we feel so lucky to be able to do this. But also it's not just to look pretty. It is going to be a centralized place for you to go and visit the information that you need in your state. We do need volunteers from every state to build out materials for the employer education campaign that we will be launching in 2025 when the website goes live, we will only be releasing materials from states where we have volunteers. So if you're interested in volunteering for a state team, or being that educational team member who's creating stuff, you don't have to recreate the wheel. There is a larger team, shared templates. I got them launched, and then kind of fell silent because the holiday season started, and a lot has been going on, but moving into the new year, I have some new volunteers. There'll be some help. It'll be better organized, and you want, there'll be templates to share and and things like that. So if you're interested, you can email our new email for all of this, because it is I'm also going to have a volunteer helping me manage emails. Finally, you can email states that's plural states at fix slp.com let us know that you're interested in the educational campaign team and what state you're in, and if we need you, we'll plug you right in.

Preston Lewis 6:37
Yeah. And if there is a regulatory issue or there's something you need to discuss with a local state representative. Reach out as well, and Jeanette can put you in touch with my department, and we will find a way to see which state reps or senators or Medicaid board that you need to speak with. I will try to give you a name. I'll try to give you some communicative points to make, and it's about putting a message together to be the change that you want. And so that's it's all part of what's coming ahead this week, the meltdown, minivan meltdown line is sort of been transformed into 2025 Wish List line. We'll get into that. But Jeanette, you've got to have a wish for 2025? It's coming.

Speaker 1 7:27
Yeah, for the profession. I told you when we started. I had one last night that I put together very beautifully in my head as I was falling asleep, and then true to who I am, I woke up and didn't have it anymore, but I've sat here for a few minutes before we started recording and kind of reformulated it. There are a lot of things I could say. I wish for no more. CCC, I wish, I wish for full autonomy. But that's not, you know, as a clinician, that's not a good, smart goal, because we know that there's not going to be enough time to achieve those things, and you know, maybe that will happen, and that would be cool, but for me, my wish overall is just for elevated clinician voices in whatever way it is that they want their voice to be heard, those SLPs challenging the status quo, ensuring that their expertise and needs are shaping the future of the profession, or even in the workplace, where they're advocating for a patient or they see something that isn't quite right, and they're speaking up whatever area a clinician is choosing to use his or her voice. My wish is just that in 2025 with the autonomy and the strength and and the power in numbers that we've created, that those voices can be elevated and heard more so than they were in 2024 so short, sweet, but I think, I think pretty solid.

Preston Lewis 9:02
Like it. So we asked to hear from some of you out there, and you've called in, given us some of your New Year's wishes. We haven't listened to these yet. I think we decided to just let them sort of trickle in over the Christmas break, and I'm excited. Jeanette, let's find out what's on the wish list.

New Year's Wish #1 9:23
My other wish for the field is that more speech therapists will feel emboldened to actually make changes on the state level. For the field, I had heard about the campaign this spring for employer education that the seas are not required, and I cannot wait for the wave of that to happen as everyone knows, the field is really dominated by women. And I think women are kind of conditioned to just like, lie down and and take bad conditions at work, or to just accept things the way they are. And I just want to see all these ladies grow some lady balls and just go for it the worst that employ. Can say is no, just ask. Let's get these stupid C's dropped. Let's be able to just ditch Asha because they're not great as we know.

Preston Lewis 10:10
I don't know if I should weigh in or not. I will say that in defense of my fellow SLPs that are female, I have known many a male SLP, as well that is sometimes hesitant to sort of ask the tough questions, or to go outside of a trend. And so while I think it's I do appreciate the sentiment, and I think it makes for a fun, laughing kind of environment. I do think that a lot of it's just how we've been conditioned since college, and some of it was a bit of a bit of indoctrination where we were just told to shut up and take it some of us had, we've talked about lately abusive experiences that some of us had going through our clinical practicums in college. And so it was just a case where we were trying to look toward the professionals that were supposed to navigate us into this field. And I think the biggest failing grade, at least for my graduate program, was that they didn't really teach us how to advocate for ourselves. It was all just, you know, pay these fees, support this organization, and everything will be fine. It will be great. And for a long time, our country's economy and things were different in the healthcare industry, where perhaps some of that group think mentality and mass momentum was positive change. But as we've seen over the last 25 years, we're getting kicked in the teeth, and something's got to give. And so I like that idea of ask those questions. You know, why the hell do you want my C card? Why is this productivity realistic? What's it gonna happen if I just can't do this productivity? Because, let's face it, some of us have to go to the bathroom and take notes, and we can't do them off the clog, or at least we're not supposed to. So there are ways to challenge things without being reckless, I suppose it's somewhere in there. But start asking a question now and then and finding a different reality that you're willing to accept, because what's not acceptable, and this will go into my wish a little bit later, but what's unacceptable are the people that are just washing out of our field and walking away, and I respect those decisions. For some people, they've moved on to different businesses in life or different circumstances, and that's fine, but I do think about all those wonderful clinicians that are no longer providing the care that they were, and it's it's sad, because I think about our patients,

Speaker 1 12:44
I can bring it to you from a women's perspective, and also a woman who clearly is not really shy about speaking her mind really, I have spoken up at work before, and nicely and professionally. And I don't lay down and take it. I do talk when I feel like it's needed. And again, can, can do it well, but that's that's hard to do. It's, it's almost like when we've talked in previous episodes about students making the choice to kind of call out their bad experience that's happening in their externship placement, that it's a risk. And the same thing holds true when a woman speaks out to administration, especially if it's a man. There isn't a nervousness, I guess, about it an unsettling feeling, even for someone like me, that you know that this could go a few ways, and most of the ways aren't in your favor. So that's hard. It's hard. Sometimes I don't even think that it's women are afraid to speak up. I think sometimes it's they choose not to because they've seen others get pounded when calling things out or advocating, and if they need a job or there's no other option, then just staying silent is the better choice. And I think that also brings in my wish where we have elevated voices, that it becomes a little more acceptable to have these conversations. And I love that this color again, brought up the education team that we have, that we're getting these materials together, because it will give people who are nervous about speaking up a place to start, and you won't have to figure out what to say, that it will be very state specific, very setting specific, and it will help have those conversations. But it's a risk. I like to give my own examples. Not that long ago, I've helped regularly at a building for. Years, and I own this mobile fees company. This building is seven minutes down the road from me, and we had a patient who would really have benefited from some biofeedback with the use of fees. And I approached administration and inquired about perhaps getting a contract to bring that in to use it during therapy sessions. The regular clinician agreed that it would be a really good idea for him, and that didn't go well. I was told by my contract therapy company, the regional manager that if I wanted my business to grow, I needed to be less aggressive. The administrator of that building told my contract therapy company that I was extremely unprofessional in in approaching her, which I had knocked on the door, and said, Hey, do you have some time to talk? I have some ideas for a patient that I think would be beneficial. She said, Yes. She invited me to come in and sit down, but the story that was given to my contract company was not the same story. And so, you know, even that, I mean, I was, I was just advocating. I wasn't even trying to make money. In that case, I told her, I there is some disinfectant cost, but in this case, I'm happy to eat the cost like I wasn't even asking for money. I just wanted permission to bring my camera in and use it during therapy, like a physical therapist would have brought a weight in and used it during therapy or an exercise bike. That's all I was asking. I was asking for a contract, for permission to use my tool that could very much help this person who then later died. And so even speaking up in that way, there was a tool that I had at my disposal that I knew this guy was going to benefit from. And I got slammed for it, and I was told, pretty much, sit down and shut up and do your little chin tucks. Yeah,

Preston Lewis 16:56
I've got a similar story. I can share their the company that I did some sniff work for, has contracts in several buildings in the area in which I live, and I was accustomed to working in a couple of different buildings that I was very comfortable in. Had a lot of very positive staff relationships with there was one building that was known a bit more as the Bougie building, little fancier, you know. But at the end of the day, a sniff is a sniff. Usually you can put the fancy decor out front and the chandelier, but if you go there at Saturday, at 315 in the afternoon, you're going to see the reality. So I had been covering it the Bougie building. I think maybe a clinician was out on a maternity leave for a while. This is pretty much still during the pandemic, but we're on the latter half of it. Had a patient who was on nectar, thick liquids. Had wonderful family support. Would her daughter would come in every day and really help her some mild cognitive impairments, but still pretty highly functioning individual, and fantastic oral care. She was great, but she just didn't have some of the airway protection and consistency with closure that was safe enough to go thin liquids. I think we had done an instrument, and there was some trace. So it was, you know, it was kind of iffy. I think the lady was maybe 88 years old, very advanced in age, but very spunky. So as we got further along near the later days of her therapy, I decided that really the best way to go for this patient, given that she had excellent oral care, wonderful family support she would follow compensatory strategies, was to implement a free water protocol. This made sense. She liked to be hydrated, and was very good about that. That's a positive thing, particularly in that profession. And when I introduced that to that nursing facility that I was not I didn't have as deeper relationships with they were just bewildered, like, what? What is this? And I gave them the handouts I had provided, the materials. I explained what the benefits were. I told them that I've already educated the patient, I've talked with their family, and the answer is, we don't do that. We're more comfortable with you getting a hold harmless signed so she needs to go thin liquids and do a hold harmless, or we just need to stay on nectar, but we're not comfortable doing this right here, and it just flabbergasted me. And this is what I tell clinicians that are out there, there's that point where, yes, I tried to advocate the best way that I could. I provided materials. I had a family that was buying in on this, but I had a facility that I could tell was just hell bent for leather, like we're not going to do what this SLB wants us to do. You have to make a decision at that point professionally. You can advocate so far, or you can get to the point this is what I did in this building I'm not happy about. It, I like, walked away with a terrible, bad feeling in my the pit of my stomach. I called the area of rehab director, and I said, I can no longer work in that building. And we had a lengthy conversation. He was pretty approachable, and it basically came down to, I said, Look, they're not going to do what I'm recommending, so I'm just wasting my time, and furthermore, I think it's wrong. I don't think it's the correct approach for caring for this patient and providing what's in their best interest. However, I also can tell they're kind of cheesed off. And if something happens or goes wrong with this plan or something else, I am going to be the son of a bitch. I'm going to be the person that they will say, No, no, no, we did everything. It's this guy's fault right here. So you can't set yourself up for failure. You have to always watch your own back, and you can advocate, you can communicate, and a lot of times more often not, you're going to find someone in that building that their light bulb is going to go off and they're going to say, Yes, this is what's best for the patient. So let's proceed. Let's do this free water protocol. Because Wow, she's, you know, barely going to aspirate at all on thin water while her mouth is perfectly clean. Her risk factor is zero, and she's going to be hydrated and avoid UTIs and all the other great things that go with that. So you're going to find a lot of people that will go along with that, but you're going to run into some real assholes sometimes who won't and so don't let those people force you out on a limb and have them saw it out from underneath you. That's my advice.

Jeanette Benigas 21:36
Here's our next one.

New Year's Wish #2 21:38
I have been a speech therapist for 13 and a half years. I am a contractor in the school system. I also work part time at a skilled nursing facility, but yes, it's been very frustrating with everything that's going on with ASHA, especially having to pay dues during the time of Christmas. As being a contractor, of course, I don't get paid for the full month. I also felt like the 250 was a lot, especially not know what my benefits were from Asher, but now that the fees have wanted to suit to 278 it is very frustrating. It's disheartening. And really just don't know what to do as far as where to go next. Everything's increasing, it seems like, but our pay rate, you know, I'm blessed to have the pay rate I had, but I know that there could be more money out there for us. And like I said to two, having to pay to 278. Is very frustrating. I talked to a couple colleagues, and they feel the same way. I have written up a complaint letter. I'm going to send that off, and I'm also going to mail it, but just don't know what else is left or what is next to do.

Preston Lewis 22:34
I like her. I like the fact that she's still making her voice known, and we have sent a lot of letters in communication in the past, that was one of the first calls to action, or the first call to action you ever had. The response is, was silence for the most part, or pretty much. And that doesn't mean, though, that other SLPs that are new to fix SLP, or maybe just want to re engage and continue to try to reach out write those letters. I think it's great. There's that's never a bad idea, because it continues to, as I always say on this pod, want to start a conversation.

Speaker 1 23:13
I want to jump into and say that 278 is not the cost. So we want to make sure we're not spreading misinformation. It is $29 for the membership. 221 for the CCC, and that person is likely paying for the CE tracker, maybe, or a SIG, something else is tacked on there. So 278 is not the cost. So that person can actually come down a little bit in in what they're paying. You have until December 31 for a refund. So if she's listening, you can call and get your money back for membership and for whatever that extra thing that was tacked on and bring it down to 221. Doesn't make a huge difference financially for you, but that all adds up for Asha. So all right, here's our next one.

Speaker 2 23:53
This is Alexa Chapman with Fix SLP, and in 2025 my wish and my hope is to see real change in our profession. I hope that more companies are dropping the unnecessary CCC requirements that create barriers to not only care but also employment. I hope for increased reimbursement rates and also the extension of telehealth services. I hope that more SLPs will recognize their worth and say no to lowball job offers and walk away from toxic work environments and totally unmanageable caseload sizes. I also hope to see that more SLPs confront fear and embrace difficult conversations and face hard problems with courage to drive meaningful change. So here's the balance and more advocacy and less selfies

Speaker 1 24:44
Love her! thank you for all of your work this year, Alexa.

Preston Lewis 24:48
One of the things about Alexa I have to tell this story is early on in my fix SLP experience. We had a big zoom meeting with a. Guess, the Medicaid board or something that was communicating with clinicians in Michigan. And it was one of those just nauseating, sort of zoom meetings, where the first words out of everybody's mouths were is hail Asha and thank God for Asha being here and everything that they've done. You know, it was, it was like liturgy in a church, praise God to all the ASHA blessings that flow. So we started out this meeting borderline nauseated and thinking, Oh, this will be fun. And the questions that we had regarding Medicaid requirements for CCC in Michigan, they did not want to talk about it. And it was like, who's going to, you know, kind of jump into this fray here and ask this question, and Alex is like, I will. And there she was, and she's like, Hey, you're not answering our questions. And I admired her ability to just go out there and say, Hey, I'm I'm not here for the status quo, and I want something to be different. And that's that's a relationship I valued. And she's a very industrious lady.

Speaker 1 26:03
I was in that meeting too, and it was one of my first interactions with the likes it too. I was like, Damn, she's our girl. She needs to be on this team. Okay, the next one is, looks like it's going to be short and sweet.

New Year's Wish #4 26:16
My wish for the new year is for Asha to finally in writing, address at least one of the concerns brought up by SLPs and or fix SLP and I also wish for many more SLPs to get on board the Fix SLP movement.

Preston Lewis 26:35
A wish that may ever quite be realized, especially now with attorneys involved. But I I still admire the sentiment, and there is a new board that is coming on line, a new president. I don't expect anything to change, because I think now that they are follow, following, probably their Council's advice, which is just a stone wall and don't, don't say anything.

Speaker 1 26:59
And while you were talking, I pulled up this message from a fixer we got, and I really just think they're digging in. I've said before. It was an episode where we discussed the petition and the response from Asha, where I said words matter. And in this particular message we got, this fixer had reached out to the Action Center for Information about the vote that took place on our petition, and they sent her on a treasure hunt, because we all know that as website is not easy to use and things are hard to find. So she very specifically asked about the fix SLP petition, and had to go back and forth. But the final communication that she received was from Vicki, the CEO, and it said the petition referred to in motion, 29 dash, 2004 was submitted by a group of members, where the lead Petitioner indicated that they were affiliated with fix SLP, okay, professional, whatever. But also interesting word choice, where the lead Petitioner indicated to me, it was worded almost like, once again, she doesn't believe it, or it's, it's not true, or this isn't actually happening. It's, it's such a vague word choice, how about where the petition was submitted by fix SLP, or the petition was submitted by fix SLP and supporters of the petition, not where I indicated they're watching this play out.

Preston Lewis 28:33
It was submitted by over what did we submit with 805 5800, of your own members. So whether or not you know Jeanette Benigas was the one that took it to the UPS store and where it came from, or the synergy of how it began, ignores the fact that it came from 5800 of your own members. I want to see board minutes. I want to see a vote. I want to see somebody take a damn stand. I've seen in government where, perhaps an unpopular council member in a government brought forward an idea which is actually a pretty good idea. And everybody said, Well, who brought this in? Well, Preston Lewis brought it in. Somebody just said, well, the hell with that. You know, I don't like the guy. I don't like the cut of his jib. It came from 5800 your own members. Vicky, think about that. They're your customers. They're they're the people you represent or you profess to.

Speaker 1 29:31
I pulled up the motion and it was denied 15 to zero.

Preston Lewis 29:34
So they did vote on it?

Jeanette Benigas 29:37
Mmm-hmm. Allegedly.

Preston Lewis 29:38
Wonder how long, of course. And I would also point out, they pretty much are a unanimous vote on everything, which

Jeanette Benigas 29:44
Yes, they are

Preston Lewis 29:44
that's typically a pretty negative sign in governance. And remember, this is not open governance. This is very much the self licking ice cream cone, where they pick their own people and they just keep, you know, spinning them around. But anytime. You have organizations where there is just a sea of unanimous votes, that's a group think mentality.

Speaker 1 30:08
We will never know where was a Board Member at Large who is supposed to be representing the voices of SLPs, the one board member that we get to vote for?

Preston Lewis 30:18
I mean, that person clearly is not interested in representing people. It's all selfies and smiles. That's not somebody that represents open seat. That's somebody who's, I think, likes just to self promote. So they'll move on. Thank God. But yeah, I would just, I don't know, are there meetings even open to the public? I don't think so. How about, how about letting an audience, how about putting them on video? Government does that now. Yeah, you do that. You know, it's a little different. It's, it's, it's a lot easier to go along with group think mentality when there is no sunlight. And believe me, sunlight is the best disinfectant. So what else we got?

Mikayla Treynor 31:04
Hi, it's Mikayla from Fix SLP, my wish for the field of Speech, Language Pathology and the new year is that more SLPs will feel confident in advocating for themselves in their career, and that the fear of what if regarding maintaining CCC is eliminated. Happy 2025 to all of you, brave, competent, caring SLPs out there, note your competence is not determined by whether or not you pay for a proprietary product.

Jeanette Benigas 31:37
I love her.

Preston Lewis 31:38
I just had this fond memory of how hard she worked to get a line of communication into Blue Cross, Blue Shield in Michigan. I really thought there was a moment where she was going to just get on the corporate elevator, hide out in the corner, and then go all the way up to the executive's office and just camp out and not leave. She was that determined and sometimes frustrated. And I just, I kept saying, you will find the right person. And she did, and now they've issued some clarification, and it's, it's different, and she made that difference. And at times, I think there were days where Michaela thought, am I being a stalker to Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Michigan. And I told her, No, you are being you, which is somebody who wants to unwrite that copy and paste sort of regulatory ideas about, you know, having this old certificate, which is kind of arcane and harkening back to a pre licensure era, you made that change. Michaela, and I'm very proud to work with you as well.

Speaker 1 32:49
Gosh, you know, I love her too, and it's why she's on this team. It was that drive and motivation and just self starting attitude that really attracted me to the work she was doing, and connecting with her, and, of course, Alexa, and just bringing her on board, because she doesn't wait for change. She makes it. And so we're just so lucky to have her.

New Year's Wish #6 33:15
I would love to see school SLPs all have caseload caps, and that there would be career growth opportunities, that they could be considered for administrative positions, just like every other educator in the school.

Jeanette Benigas 33:33
That's a great wish.

Preston Lewis 33:34
It is what a big win that would be, if we could get it just one or two places where there is sort of a firm line drawn, and it can be used as a model. And so if you're in a state where you feel like you've got some sort of line of communication with your education department, where you have a very powerful school district that's really dialed into special education, particularly speech language pathology, give it a go. Find out what works. Get some evidence. There is evidence out there. There's also some bad advice out there, but find out what that is. And maybe you could be the first 50 states that says, yeah, here's the number. And if you go over that, you know, pox on your houses.

Jeanette Benigas 34:20
There are states with caseload caps, they just

Preston Lewis 34:22
are there. Okay, I didn't know that. Are they firm?

Speaker 1 34:26
That's the problem. Ohio has caseload caps and

Preston Lewis 34:31
well, it's not a cap if it's not held.

Speaker 1 34:35
I don't know if there are states that adhere to the rules, but there are certainly states with caseload caps, our fixers will let us know.

Preston Lewis 34:44
Okay

Elizabeth Nielsen 34:45
hi everyone. It's Elizabeth Fix SLP's, content coordinator here to share some hopes and dreams for our field for 2025 I feel like I have many, many hopes and dreams for us for this new year, but I think the. One is just the dream of true autonomy for all SLPs, a future where each of us can decide to whether or not we want to purchase a redundant, proprietary product. And I hope that every graduate student leaves their program fully informed that the CCC is just one pathway after graduation, not the only pathway after graduation. You know, behind the scenes at fix SLP, we're working on a university education program campaign to make this vision a true reality, and so starting after the new year, we will be sharing more details and resources to really empower students and universities to encourage them to be proactively evolving alongside with what's happening in our field. This has been a passion project of mine, and I can't wait to welcome even more fearless fixer volunteers to help us to ensure that all students understand their options and just really feel supported in their decisions. I'm so grateful for this community. I mean, watching you all share knowledge and lifting each other up on social media has just been so inspiring. We are proof that real strength comes not from the letters behind our names, but from just our commitment to ourselves, to our clients, to our profession. So thank you for being part of this journey. Here's to a new year filled with empowerment, growth and just even more autonomy for SLPs everywhere.

Preston Lewis 36:39
There is no question in my mind that we would be about four or five steps, three or four months behind our growth and our enthusiasm and not being for Elizabeth, very talented person.

Speaker 1 36:53
I'm gonna take that a step further and say we might not exist if it wasn't for Elizabeth, because this team, every single one of you came on, sort of one at a time, and at a time when I really needed all of you, and I was struggling. I was doing okay coming up with content, but I couldn't be the person who did everything. And she doesn't know this, but I asked her if she wanted to collaborate on a post, with the intention of asking her to be on the team, but I wanted to kind of give her a trial run first. So Elizabeth, surprise, I already had plans, but we collaborated, and it went really well. And so then I was like, Hey, do you just want to keep doing this? And she said, Yes. And you know, I sent all of you a little gift in a card, and that was something that I said in her card, is you came in at a time where I don't know that we would have continued, or, like you said, we'd be way far behind, because I wouldn't have been able to keep up. I can barely keep up with the pace we're at now, with five of us, and yeah, she just stepped right in and flew. And I am so thankful for all of you and all of you in different ways, but for her in that way, and just keeping our content alive and the spirit of what we do and the spiciness. And I love her too, because we still collaborate on content. But sometimes I'll make something that is really spicy, and she'll be like, Jeanette. We maybe want to scale that back, but sometimes it's the other way around, like Elizabeth will go all in, and I'm like, maybe, maybe not this time. So, you know, we just we get each other, and she's awesome. I don't know what we do without her, and this is another reason why, going into the new year, I am focusing on finding creative ways to pay this team, because they all bring something good to this project, and we want to make sure that we keep them, that they aren't burnt out, And so we won't be using sustaining partnership money, but, you know, I'm working on some collaborations and some projects which will hopefully bring in some money to get everybody paid. And Elizabeth, I feel like, is at the top of that list. You know, Elizabeth needs some cash for what she's doing, because she's maybe, I'd say, with the research, spends more time than any of us doing this project, so she's chef's kiss.

Preston Lewis 39:28
Do we have one more call?

Jeanette Benigas 39:29
One more. Here we go.

New Year's Wish #8 39:31
I would wish that Asha would simply recognize its mistakes and do the right thing, but I guess a more practical wish for our field would be that more of us will stand up for what is right, that we will hear fewer stories of discrimination against our students and our future SLPs, that our profession will become one that consistently. Champions fairness, respect and integrity. My wish for 2025 is that we continue to push for change, hold each other accountable and create a profession that we can be proud of, one that's rooted in compassion and equity with an unwavering dedication to doing what is right.

Speaker 1 40:28
I'm glad we ended with her, because she had a couple really good things to say there. And I think kind of we've touched on all of this, so we won't keep flapping our gums. So let's just wrap this up. And you know, I gave my my wish for 2025 at the beginning. So now let's hear from our fan favorite, Preston. And before I give him the mic, you know, I've said some great things about Elizabeth and Alexa and Michaela, and of course, I've certainly told all of them my feelings in the little cards I sent them. But I just want to take a moment to thank Preston publicly for also stepping in at a time when I wasn't sure how this was going to continue, when leadership changed, I was at the bottom. I listened to the Fix SLP podcast regularly when it airs just to make sure there's no mistakes, and I remember that first solo episode after my mom was in the hospital and I was alone, and, you know, I was caring for her, I had left my job, and everything was changing for me. And I can't even go back and listen to that episode, because the despair it that I know was in my voice that probably you all couldn't tell, or maybe you could. I just can't hear it again. I can't revisit that time in my life. And we've had a call for guest hosts. And our friend Kristen Park from Pennsylvania, who I also sent a card to, was one of the first people to step in and say, let me help you. And so she did, and she found Preston, which we had already been talking but I was like, I know I know him. Let's I'll have him on. And it was just synergy, and it's not hyperbole. He he saved this podcast. I don't know that I could have continued doing this alone without Preston. So we love Preston. You guys love Preston. You love his Prestonisms. He's awesome. He brings something to this project that the rest of us aren't bringing. So anyway, let's hear his wish for 2025 he turned off the mic or the camera, by the way, you guys, he had to, he had to hide his tears.

Preston Lewis 42:37
Mmm. That was very, very touching, and I will say briefly to respond to what you said, I never had sisters, and this year has been just a huge blessing in terms of the strong and powerful women that have entered my life in a meaningful way. I got married this year, that's principle, but adding those relationships with you and the others in the team, it's it's big, and life happens all around us. There are days where Jeanette gets ill, couple the team members get stressed, or they have things happen at their individual homes or in their careers. There are times where Jeanette goes off the rails and gets really pissed off and starts getting angry with somebody, and the team will have to sometimes kind of pull together, and sometimes it's frank conversations with each other, but it's like family. And I really have grown a lot from this. I have been enriched, and I really appreciate it from a personal perspective, it's it's really special to be part of this team. My wish is that it's similar to what I think I felt back around 2020, 2021, in a time where we just got terrible word of more Medicare cuts out there for Part B reimbursements. There is a lot of anxiety regarding Department of Education, what it's going to look like over the next few years. What does some of the idea things out there that you know, the gains that we've made, are they going to be clawed back? And I would tell everybody, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. To go back to FDRs quote and to find your joy, find that way that you make that impact with your patients. Find a way to keep yourself sustainable within this field, and this time next year, in December of 2025 find a way that you can write down on a post it one or two ways that you made a difference in your profession, that can be with your patients, that can be with reaching out to a state representative about a reimbursement issue in your state, that can be informing your employer that next year. I really don't think it's necessary. Necessary to buy this $250 membership. And, you know, girl scout badge, find that way that you can hold up something next year to say, I moved forward in this field. I got some joy. I got some autonomy back. Find a way to make a difference, because that's what's going to matter most, because if you're not doing that, then you are going to let the rehab companies beat you down, the school district that may not understand your value, the hospital where it's just, you know, a gong show one day after the other. If you can feel like you've taken something and you have an ability to chart your own course and not let the fears overtake you, then you're going to be a better clinician, and you'll probably be a lot happier, not just in your work, but at home. So that's my wish. That's what I try to do. And I think 24 certainly realized that for me, and I hope you find that in 25 if you haven't already, that's all I got.

Jeanette Benigas 46:00
I know... I mean, speechless. You guys, we're energized. We're ready to go. Stay up till midnight, go to bed at eight, whatever, but wake up on January 1st ready to make some change. We've got a lot coming this year. We've got more coming that we don't even know about, because, as you can see, we go where the wind blows, or we go where you tell us to or we go where you know, whatever ASHA decides to do that day on their content. So here we come, 2025. And in a year, I can't wait. I can't wait for a year. I can't wait to see where we all are in a year. Truly from myself and the Fix SLP team. Thank you for walking with us this year. Thank you for doing the hard work in 2023 and 2024 and we'll see you guys in 2025 thanks for fixing it!

Transcribed by https://otter.ai