The Importance of Advocacy —Why You Need to Be Involved
In the summer of 1999, I was a first-year graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. I was eager to enter the field, and excited to take a course about professional issues in speech-language pathology.
During the course, I listened to several guest speakers talk about their experiences in the field. They spurred my interest in learning more about my future profession. They also spurred concern when they mentioned a law had been passed placing a Medicare cap on outpatient rehabilitation therapy services, including speech-language pathology services.
Many of the speakers talked about how this cap threatened jobs and s...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - December 19, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Craig Coleman Tags: Advocacy Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: blogs
Talk to Your Legislators … You Never Know Where It Can Lead
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins meets with members of the Lafayette, Louisiana, chapter of the National Stuttering Association.
During a visit to the ASHA National Office last March, ASHA’s Federal Advocacy team asked me if I would talk to my members of the U.S. Congress about legislative issues affecting our professions. I said yes.
I made appointments with an aide to Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), but got an appointment directly with Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana). Higgins was an incoming freshman, so I actually thought his staff made a mistake when they said he would meet with me in person. I showed up as scheduled and, to ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - December 12, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: John Tetnowski Tags: Advocacy Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Fluency Disorders Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs
Patients have more power than they may realize
A pediatrician husband recently wrote here in KevinMD about the stark differences in assumptions about work-life balance for men and women, in “What does your husband think of you being a surgeon?” Then I came across another article on Medscape by a male cardiologist, whose wife is also a physician, entitled, “The gender gap in cardiology is embarrassing.” Both men’s wives delayed their medical training, and these husbands bore witness to our culture’s implicit gender bias against their life partners. I strongly encourage you to read both pieces; they are short and poignant.
Now, consider ho...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 21, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/catherine-cheng" rel="tag" > Catherine Cheng, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary Care Public Health & Policy Washington Watch Source Type: blogs
How To Clear Four Common Roadblocks to Coverage of Stuttering Treatment
Dealing with fluency issues can be confusing and frustrating for the client and family. Navigating health insurance reimbursement for stuttering treatment can also present challenges for them. In our extensive work with clients who stutter, we’ve learned several tips for getting treatment covered—either initially or through an appeal if the insurance company denies coverage.
Ease your clients’ and your own anxiety by learning how to navigate through (or around) these four common insurance roadblocks.
Does the policy cover stuttering treatment?
Become familiar with an insurance company’s specified benefits to determ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 19, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Brooke Leiman Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Fluency Disorders Speech Disorders stuttering Source Type: blogs
The High Cost of Public Reporting
ANISH KOKA MD
In an age where big data is king and doctors are urged to treat populations, the journey of one man still has much to tell us. This is a tale of a man named Joe.
Joseph Carrigan was a bear of a man – though his wife would say he was more teddy than bear. He loved guitar playing, and camp horror movies. Those who knew him well said he had a kind heart, a quick wit and loved cats.
I knew none of these things when I met Joe in the Emergency Department on a Sunday afternoon. I had been called because of an abnormal electrocardiogram – the ER team was worried he could be having a heart attack. ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 18, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: anish_koka Tags: Uncategorized Cardiac surgery High-risk Quality Reporting Source Type: blogs
The Cost of Public Reporting
ANISH KOKA MD
In an age where big data is king and doctors are urged to treat populations, the journey of one man still has much to tell us. This is a tale of a man named Joe.
Joseph Carrigan was a bear of a man – though his wife would say he was more teddy than bear. He loved guitar playing, and camp horror movies. Those who knew him well said he had a kind heart, a quick wit and loved cats.
I knew none of these things when I met Joe in the Emergency Department on a Sunday afternoon. I had been called because of an abnormal electrocardiogram – the ER team was worried he could be having a heart attack. ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 18, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: anish_koka Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
My Parkinson ’s Disease is Not Progressing
It ’s one thing for me to notice that I’ve become a bit more unstable on my feet, or that I’m beginning to slur or stutter occasionally, or that my muscle control is lessening a bit. But when I’m told that this means that my disease is progressing, it gives me a headache.I mean, look up the wordprogress in the dictionary. “Progress: gradual improvement, betterment, moving forward, ascension, advance, enhancement.” This describes my physical diminishment?Wouldn ’t it be better for me to say instead, “My Parkinson’s Disease is decrepitating”? Or how about, “My disease is dilapidating”? Or maybe decliv...
Source: The Virtual Salt - August 26, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Robert Harris Source Type: blogs
My 4 Favorite Tips to Involve Parents in Treatment
The other day I was talking to a colleague and he was emphasizing the need for a certain patient to receive treatment at least four or five times per week at 60 minutes per session. I could see his point, in a way. The patient is 3 years old and doesn’t have a functional communication system.
The patient used around three words and the parents wanted their child to start preschool in the fall. Now, of course this child needs services, but had already been in treatment for more than a year. Let’s do the math. The patient had sessions twice a week for 18 months. How many sessions is that? I’ll save you the trouble. It ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 17, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Jonathan Suarez Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Early Intervention Language Disorders private practice Schools Source Type: blogs
Speak the Evil
See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.
And in case you were wondering, the proverbial “evil” would be my dormant mental health issues.
Growing up in an upper-class family in Des Moines, Iowa, mental health was an afterthought — sandwiched in between tennis matches, gawky Homecoming dance photos, and college football Saturdays. While I struggled with perfectionism (presaging a later struggle with OCD), my mother glossed over my mental rigidity.
“You just have high standards, Matthew,” she soothingly reassured to me and — perhaps — herself.
See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil...
Source: World of Psychology - August 15, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Matthew Loeb Tags: Anxiety and Panic Depression Family Friends Grief and Loss Mental Health and Wellness OCD Personal Stigma Disclosure family support Mental Illness Mood Disorder parental invalidation Talking To Parents Source Type: blogs
Back to School: Self-Advocacy Tips for Students Who Stutter
Back to school season fills children with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. They probably feel excitement to reunite with friends, participate in clubs, sports or other extracurricular activities, and continue learning (even if they refuse to admit it!) On the flip side, they might experience nervousness about making new friends, getting accepted socially by peers, and finding out if new teachers will be nice or mean. As children get older, they might also worry about achieving good grades.
Inevitably, the first day of school arrives. Take a minute and try to put yourself in the shoes of a 4th grader on the morning of ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 8, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Alex Whelan Tags: Advocacy Speech-Language Pathology Fluency Disorders Schools Speech Disorders stuttering Source Type: blogs
What I Learned at ASHA ’ s School Connect Conference
St. Tammany Parish Public School System sits just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. The district sent several of its approximately 120 SLPs—including McKeba Acker—to ASHA’s School Connect in NOLA. Acker coordinates the speech-language pathology program for St. Tammany, so she was excited to discover new approaches and strategies she could take back to her colleagues.
“I really learned a lot about the importance of partnering with teachers,” Acker said of a session presented by Barb Ehren on SLPs working with teachers in general education classrooms. “It’s not about just going into a class to treat s...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 11, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Shelley D. Hutchins Tags: Events Speech-Language Pathology Professional Development Schools Source Type: blogs
AliveCor and Microlife Detected 67% and 83% of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
A study from The University of Hong Kong in a primary care setting showed that the AliveCor Heart Monitor and Microlife WatchBP Office AFIB demonstrated less than expected sensitivity. 2052 patients (mean age = 68 years old) with hypertension and/or diabetes were screened for atrial fibrillation using these two automated devices and their algorithms. The reference diagnosis was made by two blinded and independent cardiologists, who interpreted the signal from the AliveCor’s single-lead ECG. If either device detected atrial fibrillation, a 12-lead ECG study was conducted to confirm.
24 of the patients were diagnos...
Source: Medgadget - June 13, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Ben Ouyang Tags: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Post-doctoral position in sensorimotor learning and control of speech production
TheLaboratory for Speech Physiology and Motor Control(PI Ludo Max, Ph.D.) at the University of Washington (Seattle) announces an open post-doctoral position in the areas ofsensorimotor integration and sensorimotor learning for speech production. The position will involve experimental work on both typical speech and stuttering. The lab is located in the University of Washington's Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and has additional affiliations with the Graduate Program in Neuroscience and the Department of Bioengineering. Seehttp://faculty.washington.edu/ludomax/lab/for more information.The successful candidate wil...
Source: Talking Brains - February 26, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greg Hickok Source Type: blogs
We ’re all shepherds helping others move through life
Mathew preferred using the more biblical term “shepherd.” After all, he labored his flock through pastoral pastures and meandering meadows. His parishioners, of course, were sheep and not people.
After years of leading them, he could discern subtle differences: the slope of a forehead, the stutter of a step or the variation in bleat. He had a distinct name for every animal in his flock of thousands.
Although Mathew preferred isolation, he was far from alone. He spent his days in constant motion among the animals, and nights still, under the moonlight beside them. He passed many youthful years this way. A quiet,...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 6, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/jordan-grumet" rel="tag" > Jordan Grumet, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
The Shepherd
Mathew preferred using the more biblical termshepherd. After all, he labored his flock through pastoral pastures and meandering meadows. His parishioners, of course, were sheep and not people. But after years of leading them, he could discern subtle differences. The slope of a forehead, the stutter of a step, the variation in bleat. So much so that he had a distinct name for every animal in his flock of thousands.Mathew preferred isolation. From humans that is. But he was far from alone. He spent his days in constant motion among the animals, and nights still, under the moonlight bes...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - December 5, 2016 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
