A Service Delivery Issue I feel Strongly About

An issue I feel strongly about is using scores from standardized tests to determine (assess) an individual’s speech and language abilities. I learned about what validity and reliability mean in reference to using standardized testing tools early in my educational course work for this field. What is bothersome to me is that while it is common knowledge that most if not all exams, especially those for children, are not “normed” on children I would test, many agencies and supervisors demand a score as part of an evaluation report.

Children I would test are those that live in New York City and the New York region (i.e., Long Island, Yonkers, Westchester). Further exasperating this topic are those children which are exposed to more than one language. These children do not follow the “typical” speech and language developmental norms of any monolingual community. Therefore, why are SLPs using these testing tools to make an assessment? Some may think the SLP is monolingual and may not be aware. Let’s make it clear, there is no SLP that should graduate from any program, bilingual or not, that is not aware of reading a testing manual at the least. We are also taught, even if briefly, that testing tools should be scanned to remove or adjust bias questions/materials and that bilingual children should be tested by bilingual SLPs. Let me make another point clear: while a person is bilingual it does not qualify them to assess a bilingual person. For example, I am proficiently bilingual in English and Spanish.   

What is especially worrisome is that while this is such a touchy subject, a certified SLP can actually lose their license over this issue/topic (using a score to report findings). I would venture and guess that one or two malefactions would not substantiate a license being revoked, however it baffles me as to how not more of an emphasis is made on using appropriate testing materials and informed clinical opinions to report findings instead of using scores from a test. In New York City there are rarely any children that would meet the reliability, validity, and norming standards for any test that I know of, yet I find that too often they are used to assess the child’s language abilities.

Catherine J. Crowley is not only the director of the Bilingual Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University but she is an advocate for this issue. In reality, I cannot say she is an advocate she is the leader who identifies what issues need to change and how to go about changing them. Last year when I started at the institute she informed us of some upcoming trainings and reforms regarding this precise topic: agencies forcing their employees to use scores to report a disorder/delay. Cate, as she likes to be addressed by her students, is still conducting trainings around the city to various agencies and changing policies as we speak. She has a lot of support, some of which is through her students and staff. Cate posts information on the institution’s Facebook page such as rallies, petitions, current events, etc. This is a person that I would reach out to about this issue and support for continuing to proctor this change. 

Social Media

When I think about how social media has expanded and changed over the last ten years I am glad I have grown with it and not after it. Once I am a certified speech and language pathologist I will use social media to research, network, advertise, counsel, and treat clients. While there are some cautions in using the world wide web, social media can be beneficial to my field of practice, help me grow my business, find ideas, and build networks. Thankfully, I am part of an era, that while I’ve had to continue to use various engines of social media to keep savvy, my experiences with them have been a simple yet awakening path to the many benefits and disadvantages such access provides to the world.

   

Several years ago I set up a Facebook account to establish connections with my high school and college friends. A few months after that I realized my distance family and I can also connect, share pictures, and daily information. This was the best idea!!! Until one day I changed my relationship status from committed to single and at least 25 people contacted me to see how I was feeling. I knew something was odd but didn’t understand where this sudden curiosity in my personal life aroused from. A friend who I confided in said “well you changed your relationship status on Facebook”. Until then I had no idea of the power of social media!

That somewhat pivotal moment in my life opened my eyes to how social media is available to the public. What you post online could be the cause for you being dismissed from a company, the reason you were not hired, and in some cases even law enforcement conducted investigations. And as my luck would have it, an ex-coworker was on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list for child molestation. My immediate concern was “is he my friend on Facebook?” Thank God he was not. After that I scavenged over 500 list of names on my list of “friends” and reduced the number to less than 200. My account became private and my daily posting halted; I accessed my account about three times a year. I became the aunt that looked at my nieces and nephews accounts with awe…“how can they post such things, don’t they know this is available to the public?” Consciously, I was careful of any posting, response, or “like” vote. Just as I scrutinized my loved ones, I knew I could be under a microscope just the same.

My education and search for a new job has pushed me back into a daily use of the internet and social media. Through school I was assigned to view videos on “YouTube” and register on websites which regularly post information, host blogs, give workshops, and connect people with similar interests. I also posted presentations on the internet and built webpages with classmates as a group project. I also had the opportunity to have mentoring sessions via “Skype” to discuss treatment strategies and evaluation procedures. My “social media” outlet became anything but social. I set up a “Linked-In” account for networking and job search reasons, “liked” pictures on “Pinterest”, and read articles on Facebook regarding topics of interest on Teachers College of Columbia University and Western Kentucky University (WKU). Considering the fact that I will be looking for a job, I conducted “Google” searches for my name “Anel Martinez” and reviewed websites that possibly had any information on me. Luckily as odd as my name, and that there are hundreds of Anel Martinez’, none had anything that would represent me in a bad way. As I started my final semester at WKU, I posted my resume online, and on more than one social networking site.

Venturing back into the realm of “social media” I realized that I must make an effort to access several different sites and on a daily basis. Aside from taking extra care in scrutinizing what a “like” vote, comment, or association to a person or organization can have on my reputation, in order to keep up to date with this vastly changing and growing media outlet, I have to access many different sites regularly. This can be time consuming. On the positive side, there is so much information available on the internet and at no cost. When I had no idea what an oral motor evaluation entailed I searched for it on YouTube. I saw many complete oral evaluations, oral motor exercises, bedside dysphagia evaluations, and cases of people who stutter to name a few. In addition to following parents’ questions, comments, and/or blogs, treatment methods/procedures, I was able to look up videos of children on the spectrum. On “Pinterest” I can look for lesson plan ideas/activities and save them by clicking “like”. I can follow people, groups, and organizations by simply registering on a site.  

With social media I believe there is a lot of opportunity to grow the business, network, and service clients around the world. For example, I recently heard of providing speech and language services via a webcam. As noted on the American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) website: “Telepractice offers "the potential to extend clinical services to remote, rural, and underserved populations, and to culturally and linguistically diverse populations." Within the next couple of weeks I will be observing exactly this; telepractice with bilingual SLPs treating clients in Bolivia. With a computer, internet access, and an account (i.e., Skype) a therapist can provide services for clients around the world. I anticipate using several forms of social media, such as the ones I previously mentioned, professionally. I would use as many aspects of social media to my benefit to network, advertise, and collect resources. I do not believe social media is the end all, be all however it is another important piece of the puzzle. And while keeping up to date with the vast array of outlets, at the end of the day, anyone who wants to succeed at what they do has to put time and effort into their profession.

Certificate of Clinical Competence Requirements

            The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) will change the “standards and implementation procedures for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology” effective September 1, 2014. The reason for changing the standards and implementation are available to the public at ASHA’s website. The specific changes and how they differ from the current 2005 standards and implementation are delineated as well at ASHA in an easy to follow PDF file.

            I expect to obtain my Certificate of Clinical Competence before the new procedures take effect. I will graduate this December and hopefully be able to start a Clinical Fellowship (CF) shortly after graduating. If I am able to start a CF within the first quarter of 2013 I should be a certified SLP under the current 2005 standards. However, if for whatever reason I do not complete and certify before the 2014 changes are implemented I do not have concerns. The biggest change, in my opinion, which may affect most people graduating in 2013 and later, is having to have had completed a statistics course.

            Statistics, from my experience, intimidates many college students and is a difficult course to grasp and pass. However, from what I remember because I did take this course over seven years ago, statistics is very applicable to our field. Statistics is a course which combines mathematics with research. To obtain certification of clinical competence SLPs need to demonstrate understanding and application of research. Additionally SLPs may also choose to go into the area of research. Therefore I can understand why ASHA has chosen to update the standards to specify completion of a statistics course over any mathematics course.  

            The other changes noted in the new standards include what I would call a play on language. For example, a change from “could” to “should” and “demonstrate” to “has demonstrated” all of the required skills. The changes also entail moving standards from one area to another and simplifying the language. For example ASHA removed redundant information, such as how to apply for ASHA membership, when the information is available on the physical application. The new standards also simplified and aligned the commencement day of intervals to the January 1 immediately following all new applications and those applying for maintaining certification.

            Just as the 2005-2014 comparison document states, the new standards are easier to understand and clearly explain what is required for obtaining and maintaining certification.  

References

Council for Clinical Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012). 2014 Standards for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. Retrieved September 24, 2012 from http://www.asha.org/Certification/2014-Speech-Language-Pathology-Certification-Standards/.

My professional and collegiate experiences to date

A Reflection:

In college I recall my teachers and advisers saying that we (the freshman class) would change our majors at least two more times. Of course I didn’t realize what they actually meant then but they were right! Not only did I change majors, I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. It was the degree with just enough flexibility but not too elusive.

As fate would have it, I landed a job at a successful telecommunications company. I worked hard and long hours. I then became a mother and wept at the thought of another raising my daughter while I simply put her to sleep at night and packed her bag in the morning. With the change in economy causing greater demands on my commitment, performance, and schedule and being the only person within my extended family not working within the educational field, for the first time in my career I began to actually think about my options.

After long and careful planning, I headed full throttle into a new endeavor: a Bilingual Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP). Oh, did you think I would just be a Speech and Language Pathologist? No! Coming from a bilingual, bicultural family and proud of my heritage, I would have never done anything less. As a matter of fact, even in the business world I worked in a bilingual office, servicing bilingual clients for over 12 years. I am fluently bilingual (Spanish and English) and passed the BEA (Bilingual Education Assessment) before applying for a bilingual extension program.

I started along the path of becoming a SLP while still working. Again, as fate would have, through the United Federations of Teachers (UFT) I found the one university with an online program, recognized by the state of New York as an accredited university in the communications disorders field, at Western Kentucky University (WKU). I was able to complete the undergraduate speech prerequisites from the comfort of my own home and pretty much after my daughter was asleep. Currently, I am in my last graduate semester, completed in the same manner.

Those in my current field may wonder how could someone actually learn and attain the required competencies with an online program. I am frequently asked how it works. Well, WKU’s online classes are held in a “web conferencing” format. Classes are “live” and attendance and participation is mandatory. My schedule follows the typical college calendar with spring, summer and fall semesters, with classes scheduled once or twice a week at specific times. The best part is that professors are flown in to New York City each semester for a full day, in person class. And just like any other SLP program, we are required to complete internships/externships.

The biggest challenge I have faced on the path to this new venture is focusing on grammar. Having not only to learn what syntax, morphology, and metalinguistics meant but to identify it and apply it in therapy was completely a foreign concept to me. All through life my area of strength lied within numbers. Words like algebra, calculus, ratios, percentages, and statistics all gave me a feeling of warmth, unlike many of my peers. In numbers, everything is constant, even in another language. However, I am a fighter! I don’t give up! I set my mind to something and I meet that goal! I studied and studied, practiced and practiced and while I am far from an expert, I am comfortable and confident in my new abilities in both English and Spanish.

I have also started and anticipate completing my bilingual extension this year (December 2012). The bilingual extension institute at Teachers College Columbia University has also pushed me to gain knowledge and practice in the metalinguistic realm. From analyzing typical monolingual speech and language development of English and Spanish speaking children to the speech and language developmental of bilingual children has created a greater love of my home language (Spanish) and stronger bond to the bilingual, bicultural community. I have learned that each child has a separate and different trajectory than that of their sibling. Each child is a separate case and therefore may experience different, yet normal patterns of language acquisition.

At every opportunity I study bilingualism and its effect on language. I read books such as “How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm” by Mei-Ling Hopgood on my own time to learn of differing parenting styles, values, and cultural practices. I listen intently to prosodic features of the many languages within my diverse borough of Queens, New York where I live. I ask questions short of prying to anyone willing to feed my hungry mind about language, culture norms, religion and practices. While being only bilingual I have become a lover of phonology, language, and culture through this field. I anticipate working with bilingual, Spanish/English, clients. Having the foresight of the many aspects of language and that I would mostly work with Spanish/English clients, I began building a network of contacts of bilingual SLPs of varying languages.

I am looking forward to graduating in December and practicing in the field. I have a soft spot for the geriatric population, which I enjoy working with but feel my current knowledge, experiences, and passion will be better utilized with the younger population. The education I have attained will help me accurately identify a language disorder versus a language difference and effectively plan and treat delays and disorders in bilingual children.