Why We Went To Capitol Hill, and Why We ’ll Go Back

As members of the Coordinating Committee for ASHA Special Interest Group 7, Aural Rehabilitation and Its Instrumentation, we—Deb Culbertson, Beth Humphrey, Jani Johnson, Nicole Marrone, and Jessica Sullivan—recently spent a day on Capitol Hill. As a group, we visited our various representatives to advocate for the professions—with guidance from ASHA’s legislative team—the day before our annual business meeting at the National Office. After our visit, we debriefed about the experiences so other audiologists and speech-language pathologists considering advocating for our professions on the Hill might gain some insights about the process. In addition to getting a behind-the-scenes view of our federal government, joking with congressional staff, and often enjoying refreshments, here are some highlights from our discussions. Advice and expectations Jani: Bring your business cards! The staffers hand you their cards during introductions, and you naturally want to give yours to them. Also, it helps to create a document with your talking points that you can leave behind. ASHA maintains summaries on its advocacy page of issues for this purpose. Jessica: Prepare for a range of engagement from staffers, and don’t feel discouraged if you can’t meet with your actual congressional representative. Sometimes the staffers are more effective in getting the most important points across to lawmakers. Nicole: Expect the unexpected. We had some delays because of protests and security ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Academia & Research Advocacy Audiology Health Care Private Practice Slider Hearing Assistive Technology hearing loss hearing protection Source Type: blogs