CFY and Contract Negotiation

(Notes from July's meeting with Maria Rubalcaba and Carl Borders)

How to manage a big caseload

Organization is the key, because caseloads are always large. Do it in stages, working slowly to see what children need speech and how much. Not every child needs the same amount of therapy each week, whereas others will need more intense intervention. Later in the year, you can begin to thin out your caseload. Observation and assessment will go a long way to keep the caseload a reasonable size. Best practice requires some standard assessment and informal observation to warrant dismissal, although you can also point to their meeting of goals and objectives, or a plateau in performance. Talk to parents about changing service delivery models, which requires an addendum IEP. Help parents know that you are approachable, knowledgeable, and want their child to do the best.

You may not be able to do the paperwork of dismissal until you have completed your CFY and are well-established. Do what is appropriate for the child, and use good clinical decision-making. These might be difficult conversations to have with parents, especially if children have been in speech therapy for a long time. The average special education student costs the district $70,000/year.

As a new SLP, you’ll probably be given a large caseload. Some districts have caps, although the average caseload is 55.

ASHA introduced the 3:1 model, which is three weeks of therapy and one week of assessment (some districts use this). IEP-writing has been changed, in some districts, to required therapy hours per month or year versus per week. This allows you to draw therapy time back for children that are moving toward dismissal or need less time. A lot of this depends on the philosophy of the school district or SELPA that you belong to. Discuss these things with your superiors. Consider the intensity and severity of the disorders of children on your caseload, because this affects your workload level. Diagnosis, level of services, level of impairment are involved. Also monthly meetings, high-profile parents, IEP’s, etc, will take your time.

Having communication with the administration, teachers, and parents will help you on your caseload. A certain tone was set by your predecessor, who may or may not have developed a good reputation for the speech therapist. Be willing to explain your approach and how it may differ from the SLP who came before. These things will take time, and it will be a process.

Look at therapy with a triage approach. Kids with cerebral palsy, autism or unknown disorders have a higher priority than children with mild articulation problems. If you don’t know how to work with a particular student or situation, ask for advice from your colleagues. Move students to a consult model, vs. direct therapy, when possible.

If parents and children are happy, then the administration will be happy with you.

How to negotiate your contract

Negotiating your contract is hard as a first-year SLP. You need to be competent, confident and willing to work hard. Some SLP’s in the schools are on an itinerant contract basis, whereas others are hired by the school district. If you’re not sure where you want to settle permanently, working for an agency gives you a little more flexibility, and may cut through some of the red tape for working out of the state where you got your credential. Working for school districts requires you to honor your contract for the year. If you work directly for the district, collective bargaining units usually include SLP’s. Some districts have SLP’s on a separate salary schedule than teachers, because of the high need. Look at the benefit package (including health insurance) for the various districts in the area, especially if you have a family. If you want to negotiate through an agency such as Progressus Therapy, call to talk about salary, benefits, weekly hours, and vacation time (because you will get sick your first year!). If you are confident and know what you want and what you are willing to give, you will be able to advocate for yourself. Look at the school contracts and ask for something comparable. They will give you whatever they think they will be able to get out of the school district.

Pros and Cons

The school caseload Is variable, which keeps work interesting. Every day is completely different. There is a lot of energy in each day, and you and your kids will become attached. There is constant flexibility and change. You will see children on your caseload with medical problems, such as myasthenia gravis or TBI, and you might be the only one on campus with clinical training in these areas. You make good money for 181-192 days per year, and you don’t need to work weekends and holidays. This makes it a good job for parents. You’ll probably be done at 3:30 or 4:00 each day, depending on your contract, although your first year you will work much more. In the hospitals, you will rarely see things to completion due to death or transition to other settings for further services, and you will work long hours and often weekends.

In either hospitals or schools, you will see a lot of joys and pains of people you’re working with. Find out what your strengths and leanings are as an SLP, and you will find an environment that fits you well. Give yourself the opportunity to explore. You can even work in multiple settings part-time, or work per diem. When you work per diem, you’ll see patients on a one-time basis, or do intake assessments that other therapists will follow up with.

Common mistakes made by first clinicians

1. Doing a full assessment for every single child that is referred to you; trying to please everybody by doing more than is reasonable or needed
2. Lacking organizational skills; not planning ahead
3. Being afraid to ask for help when needed (CFY supervisor, other SLP’s, other specialists in the district, online discussion boards)

More resources

ASHA

See www.asha.org for more information on the CFY. You will get a packet once you graduate.

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board (the board that gives your state license)

www.slpab.ca.gov

916-263-2666

Gwendolyn Meier on autism

(Notes from April NSSLHA meeting)

Gwendolyn Meier works at Villa Esperanza, which mostly serves children with severe communication disorders (often autism), aged 2-22. Many children come to them because they can’t be managed in their own school district. They have a Speech-Language center adjacent to the school. It’s a very specialized place, because they see very few stuttering or voice disorders, or even articulation unless it is a verbal apraxia in conjunction with autism.

Autism is a behaviorally-defined disorder. There is no medical battery given to confirm it; it is characterized by behavioral symptoms. It was first talked about in 1943. The incidence estimates have significantly increased from 1 in 10,000 in 1980 to 1 in 100 today.

Key aspects of an autism diagnosis:

1) Limited social interaction—including eye contact, response to communication, initiation of interaction (e.g. peek-a-boo)

2) Communication—verbal communication may be disordered, with words used unusually and, the developmental progression won’t be ordered typically. For example, the first words might be requests instead of comments (unlike typically-developing children).

3) Restrictive, repetitive, stereotyped behavior—including self-stimulation. We think this might be due to sensory stimulation, although it may serve some sort of purpose (we don’t know much about this).

Symptoms may appear to different degrees and affect different areas of functioning. There is reduced connectivity shown between brain regions (association tracts); these are underdeveloped and don’t work as a whole system.

The core deficits of ASD affect many areas of function. For example, an inability to shift attention easy can result in stereotyped behaviors. Impaired use of symbols (shared meanings) especially affects abstract concepts.

There are very few standardized measures that look at the core deficits of autism. We know that standardized measures usually look at form and content, which are often disordered. However, this might not be their biggest area of need, e.g. Can they use. back-and-forth interaction with another child?

Language functions, initiation and rate of communication are very different from a typically-developing child. Requests are the easiest to teach, while commenting is much more difficult. Few resources aid us in evaluating pre-intentional, preverbal and non-verbal communication. PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) is one example of an AAC strategy, but there is little guidance on selecting and implementing such intervention.

Other important factors:

1) Communication mode—e.g. using eyes or sounds to communicate, even if these don’t seem intentional to a casual observer

2) Rate—we need to look at rate of initiation vs. response. Do we need to ask questions differently in order to get a response?

3) Communicative functions—do they comment/show/share at all? These may be absent, especially for younger children

a. Request

i. Object/activity

ii. Information

b. Response

c. Comment

d. Express feelings

e. Prosocial statement

f. Conversational skill

4) Non-verbal communication—eye gaze and facial expression for social regulation, regulating interaction, gaining info—e.g. looking at someone for a request to spin around

5) Social communication—the most basic is back-and-forth between mom and baby’s smiles, up to more abstract, such as appropriate ways to interrupt mom when she’s on the phone. A high-functioning intervention are “social inferencing” questions. Register-switching is also under this category.

6) Language content and form—although the more foundational skills are basic turn-taking and conversational abilities that enable them to make friends and have interaction!

Aided language stimulation/visually cued instruction—gives visual cues along with oral language input, building off their visual sense and using an intransient form of communication.

Assessment:

1. Context- have natural communication exchanges (Wetherby et al. 1997)
2. Who the individual is interacting with
3. What cueing is helpful; including what parents are doing
4. Motivation to communicate
5. Hidden abilities or inroads—where can these kids function? Some grow up and write that actually, they understood much more than we realized. Non-verbal children may learn how to type or use visual forms of communication.
6. Multiple sources of information, such as interviews with parents or teachers, observations of everyday situations.

Treatment

1. Functional communication (basic wants and needs)—including understanding of cause and effect, reducing learned helplessness by reinforcing any type of communication. For the adult, these skills might include toileting skills, identification of feelings, school readliness, yes/no responses, labeling. However for the child, these are most likely to be foods, toys and activities at the very beginning.

2. Initiation and Motivation

Motivation drives communication—first teach cause and effect, then expand communicative functions. Increasing functional equivalents to challenging behavior have been shown to reduce such problems. Find out what is reinforcing and personally meaningful to the child.

3. Language development

Language is learned in interaction with others. Competence is much more than vocabulary and sentence structure; we want to teach warm communicative interactions. Pragmatic functions make children stand out vs. blending in- much more dramatically than proper grammar or complete sentences. Interaction skills may be more important to real-world functioning than other language skills.

4. Plan for and practice generalization from the very start.

Online resources:

Indiana Resource Center for Autism

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/IRCAarticles/fcommunicationarticles.html

Susan Stokes Autism Articles and IEP goals

http://www.specialed.us/autism/index2.htm

Autism Inspiration Sensory Ideas

http://www.autisminspiration.com/public/department44.cfm

WIRED magazine article

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-03/ff_autism

Ask Abby (or Cari/Ed/Nancy, etc.)

Have a question you've always wanted to ask any/all of the professors, but didn't have the guts (or time) to? Well, here's your chance!

There are 2 ways to submit questions:
* By leaving a "comment" thru the blog (link below)
* By sending an e-mail to csulacomd@gmail.com

ONE question will be picked and featured on the next NSSLHA newsletter. Please indicate in your message WHO you'd like to answer the question. Your identity will remain anonymous in the feature unless requested otherwise.

And by the way...
NSSLHA MEETING NEXT MONDAY, 4/7!
Don't miss out on a great workshop on treatment tips for kids with Autism (by our very own, Gwendolyn Meier).

Autism: The Musical

Hi all!

There is a really great movie titled "Autism: The Musical" that is currently available on HBO.com.  It's available to view online for free for about a week. 

*CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PAGE*

Take advantage of it! You won't regret it!

big thanks to  ms. truelashes for fwd'ing the info. =)

Sharon Hendricks- Accent Modification

(notes from NSSLHA meeting, March 3rd)

Sharon Hendricks was trained in SLP at University of Washington in Seattle. When she was a grad student, she became a TA for “American speech sounds” for international students, often doctoral students who had brilliant minds and needed competency in English to communicate with Americans. There are many similar students on our campus!

Accent modification is about breaking down these barriers to communication. The goal is not to “reduce” an accent, but increase communication/intelligibility. You can do this with an “accent”, which is an actually interesting and important part of a person. An accent tells about their heritage and their culture; we shouldn’t want to eradicate these. Modification refers to change of behavior, giving tips/tools on how to produce certain sounds or words to be more intelligible.

Sharon works now full-time at LACC, teaching classes for non-native English speakers. There’s a lot of ethnic and age diversity on that campus. There is an effect of age on second-language acquisition; it becomes more difficult because speech sound patterns become imprinted. Many of her students are older Russian women who want to get a job to support their family, but most of their social life is with Russians. Younger people might have a career path in mind.

Components of accent modification:

1) 1) Talk with client to know what/why they want to learn. Most people who do accent modification, do it one-on-one (even though she teaches a class). What do they want to communicate for? How much do they want to learn (functional intelligibility, expanded vocabulary?) Intelligibility really affects your social life because people react to you, you might withdraw from going out into the neighborhood and send your daughter to the store instead. These things lead to emotional frustration.

2) 2) After the initial interview with client: they need to hear the difference between their production and the intended production (e.g. /th/ vs /z/), which is not too different from articulation therapy with kids. If they can’t discriminate the difference, they probably can’t make it. This is especially true for /r/ and /l/. Then, they practice discriminating with minimal pairs (contrasting vowels or consonants). She covers her mouth to prevent visual cues. For example, the “a” in “bad” is very distinct to American English. She teaches them the parts of the mouth (alveolar ridge, hard palate, etc.), IPA, place/manner/voicing, then they go to the speech clinic and practice the sounds that are particular their own language.

3) 3) The biggest component is practice. She emphasizes that her students need to spend a lot of time with native speakers, to listen to radio stations like NPR (clear pronunciation, educational, etc.), watch American movies (hear the dialogue, see context, stress and intonation), ask a classmate out to coffee. It takes a lot of initiation on student’s part; they want you to “fix” them but you give them tools and the rest is up to them. Natural language environments are very important.

LACC has a speech lab. The students come to the lab and listen to different sounds on headphone with native speakers pronounce the word as they practice, recording themselves on the computer so that they can compare productions. This has been really effective.

Books she uses:

“The Communication of Standard American English” by Luter.

“Fundamentals of Voice and Articulation” by Lyle V. Mayer

“Speaking Clearly “by Modisett and Luter

Some arenas to work in accent modification: Private practice, working at a city college or adult school, CORP-span (corporate SLP). For example, she’s giving a talk at Boeing, 10-session series for engineers. Remember, however, that we are not ESL teachers. This is outside our professional scope of practice.

Relevant websites:

ASHA has phonemic inventories for different languages, www.asha.org

accent.gmu.edu - speech accent archive, listen to various accents/languages. It allows you to look up the native phonetic inventory of most languages.

web.ku.edu/idea - great resource for theater/drama students, allows you to listen to accents from all around the world.

uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics - gives a visual aid for speech sound production, great resource for demonstrating articulatory placement

www.corspan.org - nonprofit organization of SLPs who exchange information/resources in order to best serve the arena of corporate SLP.

www.speechadvantage.info - example of corporate SLP site that offers accent modification among other communication resources.

Riddle Me This - the Answer!

The riddle from the March '08 issue of the NSSLHA newsletter:

"3 men are going on a business trip. They decide that in order to save money, they are going to share a room. One man goes to the front desk and asks how much a room is. The front desk attendant replies $30. The businessman collects $10 from each of his co-workers and they pay for the room and go upstairs. Shortly after, the front desk attendant realizes that he made a mistake; the room was only $26! He gives the $4 to the bellboy and tells him to run it up to the guys room. The bellboy knows that it will not be easy to split up $4, so he puts $1 in his pocket, and gives $1 back to each of the 3 business men ($3). Therefore, each man paid $9 for the room… 9x3= 27, The bellhop put $1 in his pocket…. 27+1=28
So, where did the rest of the original $30 go?"

The answer:

This is a very old and misleading question. Of the original $30, we know exactly where it all went: $26 went to the hotel, $1 went to the bellhop and $3 went back to the guys in the room. The mistake lies in saying that each man paid $9 for the room. They did not each pay $9 for the room, rather they each paid $10 for the combined cost of the room, the $1 that the bellhop kept and the $3 that they received. $27-$1=$26, which is the price of the room, and $26+$1+$3=$30, which is the total amount of money involved. There is no missing part.

hehe =)

2008 Minority Student Leadership Program

Call for Applications is Now Open!

The Minority Student Leadership Program is open to students who wish to enhance their leadership skills, interact with leaders in the professions, and learn how their association works. Now in its 10th program, the MSLP has given over 275 students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds insight into their leadership abilities, a better understanding of how leaders affect change within ASHA, and has empowered these students to take risks and meet their own challenges. All students are eligible to apply; however, preference will be given to students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds that have historically been under-represented in the Association.

Visit ASHA Award Programs for more information and to download an application packet [PDF].

Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Explain Her Behavior and Feelings

By JOHN MCKENZIE
Feb. 19, 2008

Carly Fleischmann has severe autism and is unable to speak a word. But thanks to years of expensive and intensive therapy, this 13-year-old has made a remarkable breakthrough.

Two years ago, working with pictures and symbols on a computer keyboard, she started typing and spelling out words. The computer became her voice.

"All of a sudden these words started to pour out of her, and it was an exciting moment because we didn't realize she had all these words," said speech pathologist Barbara Nash. "It was one of those moments in my career that I'll never forget."

Then Carly began opening up, describing what it was like to have autism and why she makes odd noises or why she hits herself.

"It feels like my legs are on first and a million ants are crawling up my arms," Carly said through the computer.

Carly writes about her frustrations with her siblings, how she understands their jokes and asks when can she go on a date.

"We were stunned," Carly's father Arthur Fleischmann said. "We realized inside was an articulate, intelligent, emotive person that we had never met. This was unbelievable because it opened up a whole new way of looking at her." This is what Carly wants people to know about autism.

"It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can't talk or I act differently than them. I think people get scared with things that look or seem different than them." "Laypeople would have assumed she was mentally retarded or cognitively impaired. Even professionals labelled her as moderately to severely cognitively impaired. In the old days you would say mentally retarded, which means low IQ and low promise and low potential," Arthur Fleischman said.

Therapists say the key lesson from Carly's story is for families to never give up and to be ever creative in helping children with autism find their voice.

"If we had done what so many people told us to do years ago, we wouldn't have the child we have today. We would have written her off. We would have assumed the worst. We would have never seen how she could write these things  how articulate she is, how intelligent she is," the grateful father added.

"I asked Carly to come to my work to talk to speech pathologists and other therapists about autism," said Nash. "What would you like to tell them? She wrote, 'I would tell them never to give up on the children that they work with.' That kind of summed it up."

Carly had another message for people who don't understand autism.

"Autism is hard because you want to act one way, but you can't always do that. It's sad that sometimes people don't know that sometimes I can't stop myself and they get mad at me. If I could tell people one thing about autism it would be that I don't want to be this way. But I am, so don't be mad. Be understanding."

**To view the full article + video, CLICK HERE. **

Source: abcNEWS.com (thanks Christina!)

ASI resources

The Associated Students, Inc. is a great resource for students.

They offer the following services:
-laptop rentals $15-20 a week (printers are also available for an additional
cost)
-locker rentals - $15 for the first quarter, then $5 for every quarter after
-$150 textbook voucher (deadlines are approaching mid-February and March)
-Student health and dental insurance: covers students AND their dependents
for very low cost. Covers illnesses or injuries on or off campus.
-local business discounts
-movie/amusement park discounts
-free scantrons and blue books


The Cross Cultural Center located right next to ASI allows students
to print up to 10 pages free per day on their laser printers.

Reminder: Spring Quarter Registration Fees

Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder that CSULA's Spring quarter registration fees are due by 3/3/08, if you want to avoid a late fee.

~thanx Dione =)

Graduation 411!

For those of you who are graduating...

The Graduation Committee has decided to hold two graduations by Colleges, rather than by Undergraduate and Graduate.

The college of Health and Human Services (where COMD is housed) will have graduation ceremonies FRIDAY EVENING for all our graduates, Undergrad and Grad.

Master’s graduates will still be hooded at that ceremony.

** Please pass this info on to the people who may not have heard about the update. Thanks! **

Campus resources!

Hey guys... we'll be sharing at our NSSLHA meeting this week about resources you might be interested in. Here's the summaries for those who are interested.

FAMILY PACT

Family PACT is a state-funded program that provides family planning services to low-income men and women - for FREE! Services include, but not limited to:

- Personal & confidential healthcare (as it pertains to family planning/prevention)

-Education, counseling, assessment & treatment to protect reproductive health

-Contraceptives: Birth control pills, male/female condoms, diaphragms, contraceptive implants, Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM), Lactation Amenorrhea Method (LAM), and male/female sterilization <~ I’m sure everyone will jump on this one! Jk To be eligible, you need to be a California resident and not exceed a certain amount of income. (This may vary every year so please check on the Family PACT website or ask someone who works at the CSULA student health center.) Signing up is easy. Just go to the 2nd floor of the student health center and ask for a Family PACT application. Fill it out, turn it in, and get your FREE Family PACT card – all on the same day. Can we sound any more like a commercial? But seriously, Family PACT is an easy way to save a big chunk of change. For more information, visit: http://www.familypact.org/


ASHA's Minority Student Leadership Program

Opportunity to attend ASHA conference for free (including hotel accommodation and meals), network with ASHA leaders, and build leadership skills.

http://www.asha.org/students/mslp.htm


Best Way to Find Cheap Books Online

http://www.froogle.com/


PROJECT PASS (Preparing Autism Spectrum Specialists)

Project PASS provides up to $5700 of funding to students who are currently in masters degree programs in Special Education, Counseling, and related fields like Communication Disorders.

Autism Certificate consists of 4 courses:
1. EDSP 413 or COUN 501 (4 units)
2. EDSP 586: Teaching Children with Autism (4 units)
3. EDSP 587: Teaching Functional Communication (4units)
4. EDSP 503: Autism Fieldwork (6 units)

Students who are accepted will receive up to $1000 for 3 quarters (maximum total of up to $3000). Students who are on the grant will receive a summer living allowance of $2700 contingent on attendance of amandatory 10 day Autism Summer Institute at CSULA.

Completion of all of the above courses is required for eligibility and participation in summer institute.

Applications can be found at the bulletin board across the office of Special Education in King Hall C1064.

Dr. Jennifer Symon (Director of PASS program)
King Hall B1036 Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 3:30-4pm

STUDENT HEALTH

Ever wonder exactly what you get charged for when you pay tuition? In case you haven't noticed, we all pay $55 each quarter for services at the student health center. So it's time to make that money count!

The services you pay for include: FREE doctor visits, cheap blood tests, free x-rays, free TB and hepatitis shots, free counseling services of all types, courses for stress/anger/time management, nutritional services, and chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage services. There is also the opportunity to access other services for small fees (which vary), these include the dental clinic, optometry clinic,women's and men's health care (i.e. contraception,check-ups, etc.) and CPR courses. You can also get your prescriptions at a reduced price (even if it's not from a Cal State doctor) at the small pharmacy located in the bottom floor of the HealthCenter.

To get all the information drop by the Health Center
(across from the Biology building) or go to
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/hlth_ctr


FINANCIAL AID

General tips for getting financial aid:

Fill out FAFSA early
Get to know your professors so they see your dedication and your interests and can write specific recommendation letters
Apply to as many scholarships as possible to increase your chances
Begin the application process early, especially if you need letters of recommendation!
Save your application essays and lists of community activities/jobs/volunteer experiences so that you can adapt and re-use them
When application dates fall around the same time, give an organized packet of recommendation letter requests and forms to a professor well ahead of time; make sure that they know the deadlines, and thank them for their help!

CSULA scholarships

General CSULA application (due March 7th):
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/finaid/pdf/Scholarship_App.pdf
This puts you in the pool of applicants for most of the scholarships available through CSULA

Other scholarship opportunities:
www.calstatela.edu/finaid
Look especially at...
President's scholarship (for entering undergraduates)
College of Health and Human Services (for graduate audiology students)
Perkins Loans-- these are cancellable for SLP's! (a certain percentage for every year you work)

For graduate students:

Alumni Association scholarship (due at the beginning of winter quarter)
inquire within KH D145

Emeriti fellowship
apply through the CSULA general application

Graduate Equity Fellowship (due fall quarter)
inquire within the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Admin 710

COMD departmental scholarship (due fall quarter)
inquire within COMD department

Other opportunities to get funding:

PASS program
see above

Teaching Assistant positions (income does not get taxed or counted against you on FAFSA)
inquire within COMD department

Outside scholarships for COMD students:

Sertoma scholarship
http://www.sertoma.org/

ASHA
http://www.asha.org/students/financial-aid#Training_Grants

Scholarship search engines
http://www.fastweb.org/

Grants for Research:

ASHA
http://www.asha.org/students/financial-aid#Training_Grants

Acoustical Society of America (funds research in phonetics and speech production)
http://asa.aip.org/fellowships.html

Pre-Doctoral Scholar's Program at CSULA (application due in March)
In addition to funding summer research, this program will also connect you with a faculty mentor and fund any trips you want to make to check out doctoral programs
Inquire within the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Admin 710

Erika J. Glazer Family Scholarship Fund 2008

Attention Undergraduates! Interested in a Scholarship?!

Established by the Erika J. Glazer Trust of 1985, the Erika J. Glazer Family Scholarship Fund will award several multi-year scholarships of up to $7,000 per year (the total amount of scholarship funds available per year is $30,000-$40,000) to academically qualified students in need of financial assistance. Deadline to apply is Thursday, March 13, 2008.
**If interested, e-mail us for a full application.**

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

1. Meet the requirements of California Assembly Bill 540 (Nonresident Tuition Exemption).

2. Be a graduating high school senior or an undergraduate college student who has attended high school in Los Angeles County for at least three years.

3. Be accepted to, or currently attend, California State University, Los Angeles during the 2008-2009 school year and for all subsequent years of the scholarship, while pursuing a full course load for a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline. Recipients must maintain good academic standing and notify the committee immediately regarding any changes in legal status.

4. Be the child of immigrant parents.

5. Be ineligible for federal and state financial aid and demonstrate financial need. Please note that there is no particular threshold of financial need we are considering. It is up to the applicant to decide if she/he would be a competitive applicant given her/his particular circumstances.

6. Demonstrate leadership, merit, a commitment to community service and/or potential for academic achievement. Involvement in student government and internships are highly prized by the scholarship committee.

7. Provide clear and detailed information about any disciplinary or criminal record (e.g., school suspensions, arrests, convictions) and a full and detailed explanation of the circumstances leading to such actions.

8. Make every effort to be available for a personal interview should one be required.

9. Be willing to attend an awards ceremony on a date to be determined in Los Angeles should one be awarded a scholarship.

Holiday Spirit

Since 1993, The Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles has sponsored “Holidays from the Heart.” This is a program that provides their “most financially challenged families with basic tools to enjoy a fuller and happier holiday season.” The program consists of purchasing gifts for these families who have children who are chronically ill or injured or those that are financially unable to provide for themselves and their children during the holiday season.

This will be the second year for NSSLHA at CSULA to work with "Holidays from the Heart" and adopt a family to support. Every contribution is greatly appreciated. Please put all your considerable donations in Locker #8. You will really be helping this family with food and clothing to stay warm for the holidays. In addition, there is a box in the clinic prep room where we are gladly accepting any food and canned good donations for the food drive.

NSSHLA greatly appreciates all the donations that have already been made. We thank you and hope to meet our goal of raising $600 for the family. Currently, we have almost $200 in donations.

If you have questions please contact any NSSLHA officer.
Thank you, again, for your generosity and for helping NSSLHA help a family in need!
Have a wonderful holiday

And the Winners are.....

The votes have been counted and the winners of the NSSLHA 2008 Elections are…

President
Caroline Lee

Vice President
Irene Rojas

Secretary
Rachel Dorr

Treasurer
John Gomez

Newsletter Editor
Julie Han

Undergraduate Representative
Jillian Brotman

NSSHLA Candidates

Hey all!

The candidates for 2008 NSSHLA officers are in.
Voting will take place next week.
Ballots will be passed out in your classes.
When you are ready-please turn in your completed ballot form to the Prep Room.
There will be a box marked "nominations" towards the end of the Prep Room (by the refrigerators).
Please have your ballots in by next Wednesday.
For information on the candidates-please see the glass box outside the Prep Room.I

Good Luck
NSSHLA

Novmeber 2007 Minutes

Thanks to Cheryl and Kristin, our class of 2007 graduates, for their insightful information on becoming a Speech Language Pathologist. These girls graduated in the summer of 2007 and are currently doing their Clinical Fellowship. Kristin is in the hospital setting and Cheryl in the school setting. The girls were very informative and excited to share their experiences with us. Here is what we learned:

Kristin-Kristin works at two hospitals and her hours are from 8am to 7pm. Her setting also requires her to work some weekends and occasionally on holiday. Unfortunately, she has to work on thanksgiving L. Kristin has about 6 to 10 people on her caseload. About 75% of her caseload are swallowing, Dysphagia, patients. She also has patients with Dysarthria, and Cognitive/Language Delays. A typical day for Kristin includes seeing new orders, then treatment. Kristin says it is all about the patient’s, new order, and Medicaid billing.

Cheryl-Cheryl works for LA Country and her hours are from 8:30am to 3:00pm. She has approximately 65 clients on her caseload. (Don’t worry guys- this is not a typical caseload, it is because the school she works at is low on staff). She predominately works with students with language disorders. A typical day for Cheryl includes training, meetings, and IEP’s. Cheryl gets training in ASHA, KASA, PECS, and materials. Her training is paid for. Cheryl says it is all about the students, parents and productivity.

Both of these hard working girls receive benefits and pension plans.


So here is the hard question? How do we decide where to work? What has better benefits? What appeals to each and every one of us as individuals?
Her is a breakdown:

School Benefits:
Work less days
Less hours
Paid Training
Holidays off
Weekends off

Hospital Benefits:
Better pay
New challenges
Variety of Cases
Medical Miracles
Time and ½ for holidays
Less caseload



IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Follow Guidelines and Be Safe!!! Don’t get MASA (staff infection), don’t get bit, and don’t wait for answers.

Keywords: INDEPENDENCE, SUPERVISION, and RESPONSIBILITY
You go from the learner to the expertYou make all the decisions.

NSSLHA OFFICER DUTIES


President (Jan – Feb*) Graduate Student
*Carries over to new cabinet year to assist in planning of various functions
Completes the officer position form (submit to Center for Student Development and Programs- KHD148)
Changes the names on the bank accounts (with Treasurer)
Schedules cabinet and monthly meetings (e.g., reserves room, coordinates snacks)
Greets and makes announcements at meetings
Coordinates all club functions (e.g., fundraisers, first year “meet and greet,” mentor/mentee program)
Schedules guest speakers
Delegates/oversees all other responsibilities
Carries over to new cabinet year to assist in planning various functions
Various other duties (e.g., assist Dr. Manasse with NSSLHA-related tasks)
Attends required student organization meeting (for dates/locations see http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/csdp/studentorg.htm)

Vice President (Jan – Dec) Graduate Student
Interfaces with COMD department faculty
Plans assistance for department functions
Interfaces with ASI
Oversees monthly calendar of events
Organizes refreshments for NSSLHA events
Hangs posters/makes announcements for meetings
Attends required student organization meeting (for dates/locations see http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/csdp/studentorg.htm)

Treasurer (Jan – Dec) Graduate Student
Accepts/records quarterly dues
Changes the names on the bank accounts (with President)
Restocks and maintains Student Store merchandise (helps if one cabinet member has a Costco card)
Collects and records proceeds from Student Store
Balances checking account
Organizes reimbursement
Makes deposit at bank
Attends required student organization meeting (for dates/locations see http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/csdp/studentorg.htm)

Secretary (Jan – Dec) Graduate Student
Maintains chapter membership roster (and records quarterly dues)
Sends meeting and event notices via E-mail
Interfaces with national NSSLHA
Record meeting minutes and publish on website
Publish announcements, meeting minutes, events, etc. on NSSLHA website
Oversees department bulletin boards
Attends required student organization meeting (for dates/locations see http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/csdp/studentorg.htm)

Newsletter Editor (Jan – Feb*) Graduate Student
*Carries over to the new cabinet year to assist with development, layout, editing, etc.
Gathers content (e.g., information about the department, field, etc.), enters type, edits copy
Prints newsletter at least once a quarter
Create forms, applications, bulletins, and flyers
Makes copies of newsletter/ other flyers at ASI (KH D-138) [maximum 100 copies per month]
Circulates newsletter by placing in grad student mail boxes, giving copies to undergrad rep to pass out, placing remaining copies in plastic holder on the department office counter, and posting one copy on the prep room wall
Assists Secretary with website
Attends required student organization meeting (for dates/locations see http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/csdp/studentorg.htm)

Undergraduate Representative (Jan – Dec) Undergraduate Student
The voice for bachelor’s students in both Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Gather undergraduate/post-baccalaureate E-mail addresses to assist Secretary
Make meeting announcements in undergraduate classes
Assist all other positions as requested (e.g., suggesting speakers)
Attends required student organization meeting (for dates/locations see http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/csdp/studentorg.htm)
Recycles cans in prep roomPasses out newsletter to undergraduate classes

NSSHLA October Meeting

Thanks to Sharon Hendricks for her informative presentation on the California Speech Language Hearing Association (CSHA).

So, what is the difference between CSHA, National NSSLHA and Local CSULA NSSLHA?

California Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CSHA).

CSHA is a professional organization of speech-language pathologists and audiologists advancing services to children and adults with communication and related disorders. CSHA is chartered under California law as a non-profit corporation and qualified by federal IRS as a 501(c)(6) organization for tax-exemption purposes. CSHA is the officially recognized professional association for California speech-language pathologists and audiologists by the national American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Visit http://www.csha.org/ for more information

The National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA)
NSSLHA is a pre-professional membership association for students interested in the study of communication sciences and disorders. National membership is available to undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral students enrolled full- or part-time in a communication sciences program or related major. National NSSLHA membership provides benefits that help students stay current on advancements in the field, enhance their academic knowledge, find internships and employment, network with other students with similar interests, and save money on products and services.
Visit http://www.nsslha.org/nsslha/ for more information


Local Cal State LA NSSLHA The National Student Speech-Language Hearing Assoon at iversity, Los Angeles is an active chapter of NSSLHA
That’s us! We are the local Los Angeles Chapter of NSSLHA. We organize monthly meetings, fundraisers, charitable events, and publish a quarterly newsletter -All to advance awareness of Communication Disorders.

Come hang out on our blog at http://nsslhacsula.blogspot.com/

Job Opportunity

Hey everyone!
Is anyone looking for a job? This is a great opportunity for all. Check it out....

Pasadena Unified School District is in desperate need of speech aids! Hourly wage is 12.26/hour. Call Ilene Clingman at (626) 795-6981 x281