Mask muffling. Decreased intelligibility. Backlogged hearing screenings. These are just some of the challenges educational audiologists face this academic year. Today on the podcast, we discuss how educational audiologists are adapting their practices for the times, with the past, current, and incoming presidents of the Educational Audiology Association (EAA). We also talk telepractice. What are its benefits relative to in-person services? And what could it mean for the future of service delivery? For a check-in with school-based SLPs, check out our previous episode.

ASHA Voices

Educational Audiologists Navigate a School Year of Unprecedented Challenges

School is back in session. And it looks nothing like it normally does. After a summer of uncertainty about what to expect this fall, school-based SLPs are navigating back-to-back telepractice sessions, hybrid online/in-person models, and myriad infection-control measures. In this episode, we hear about how it's going. We asked five school-based SLPs: What has the start of the new academic year been like for you? And, how is it different from last spring? We talk about what they're doing to keep themselves and their students safe, what they're learning about telepractice, and more. Join us next episode for a conversation with educational audiologists.

Checking In With SLPs About a School Year Like No Other

When referring to autism, some people use person-first language (a person with autism), while others prefer identity-first language (an autistic person). On this episode, we talk to ASHA members and autistic SLPs about their differing language choices, and excerpt a spirited discussion of the issue on the Autism Speaks podcast Autism POVs. Plus, acclaimed autism book author Barry Prizant returns to the podcast.

Autism and Identity: Interrogating the Language We Use

Spurred by this summer's turbulent news, SLP Pam Wiley facilitated a series of town hall conversations on community policing, race, and voting. The 2020 ASHA Honors recipient talks with us about what was challenging, and what she heard. Wiley, president of the LA Speech and Language Therapy Center, joins us a year after she first spoke to us about her efforts to build understanding between law enforcement and young adults with autism. We also discuss Wiley's workforce-preparation program that helps young adults with communication disorders transition from high school into meaningful employment.

Pam Wiley on Community Conversations About Policing and Race

We mark last September’s podcast launch with a timely return to our first episode on law enforcement, de-escalation, and communication disorders. There’s been a growing public outcry against police-perpetrated violence against unarmed civilians, who disproportionately are people of color and/or people with mental health or developmental issues like autism. Experts discuss how to help young adults with communication disorders stay safe during police encounters. And a Howard University professor describes her awareness-raising work to keep Black youth with autism from being misunderstood and routed to the juvenile justice system.

When Communication Disorders and the Justice System Intersect

(1:00) Driving between appointments, SLP Samantha Koncak talks about how COVID-19 has changed her job. See how new realities like stepped-up infection control measures and unruly masks affect the daily operations of an SLP in the field. (15:25) Later in the show, SLP Lauren Sharpe shares stories of COVID-19's emotional impact on both patients and SLPs in home health, with social isolation as a major factor. (21:51) And home-health expert Jenny Loehr returns to the podcast to discuss caseloads and how the recently implemented Patient-Driven Groupings Model fits into this puzzle

On the Road with a Home Health SLP Facing New Challenges

On this episode of the podcast, higher education takes on the moment in two distinct ways. (1:13) We hear the story of a graduate student and a faculty member brought together by the need for increased support for minority students. They tell us how they used a series of seminars to raise diversity awareness among faculty and students in a CSD program. (14:04) Then, we head south to a course that faculty hustled to pull together to address our new COVID-19 reality. Find out why the University of Central Florida created this remote health care class with a hands-on approach.

Working at Diversity Awareness in Higher Education

Continuing our coverage of how COVID-19 is affecting CSD professionals, we head to what was once the major U.S. hotspot. SLP Tami Altschuler shares stories of loss, recovery, sickness, and stigma as she walks us through the hallways of the NYU Langone Medical Center. As health care SLPs around the country see COVID-19 numbers rising, Altschuler talks about her lessons learned from facing a surge.

As COVID Surges Nationwide, a New York City SLP Shares Insights

In this quick summer check-in, we note the episodes that listeners flocked to--and look ahead to upcoming topics. Plus, we want to hear from you. Find out how to leave a voicemail that could feature on a future podcast episode. Back in two weeks!

ASHA Voices Rounds Up Biggest Hits, Looks Ahead

COVID-19 is changing the way we work, but is it also changing the way SLPs bill? With ASHA Connect 2020 just around the corner, presenter, SLP, and billing and coding expert Dee Nikjeh joins the podcast to share three of the most interesting questions she’s received since the pandemic began.

Three Surprising COVID-Related Questions about Billing and Coding

SLP and NYU faculty member George Castle says one of his mentors, the late Kenyatta Rivers, taught him to live his life helping others advance in their careers while pulling himself up at the same time. He calls this the one-hand-up and one-hand-down philosophy. Castle joins ASHA Voices for a conversation about what mentorships mean in his life and career, and he shares memories of Rivers, who died last month. At a time when much of the country is reflecting on race, we discuss the role mentorships can play in creating diversity in the field of speech-language pathology.

George Castle Talks Mentoring and Race in Speech-Language Pathology

In the latest episode of ASHA Voices, we talk to two audiologists making their way through unexpected experiences and circumstances--one with COVID-19 and the other with a new cochlear implant. (1:15) First, we explore what happens when an audiologist gets a cochlear implant. If you're Carrie Spangler, 2020 sounds different from 2019. Spangler was diagnosed with hearing loss at age four, and, after over 20 years working as an educational audiologist, she decided to receive a cochlear implant. The Ohio-based educational audiologist shares her cochlear implant journey with us--and what she’s learned from the experience. (15:48) Next we talk about what's on so many of our minds--going back to the office. Safety is the obvious concern as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Joining us is audiologist Ryan Kennard, who discusses his weighing of curbside, telepractice, and in-clinic options as he made plans to reopen the practice he directs, the San Luis Obispo Hearing Center. He shares how he adjusted his services to reopen safely.

So You Want to Reopen? An Audiologist Shares How He Did It

From  telepractice to staff meetings to social commitments, we’re all interacting online in often back-to-back engagements. And  today’s guests say this can  take a toll on our  voices.(1:15) First, SLP Jennylee Diaz shares strategies for maintaining the voice health of ourselves and our clients in this new all-online world--based on her own experiences with voice strain while singing.(9:49) Then… Water aerobics for the voice? SLP Elizabeth Banaszak guides us through a series of vocal exercises to keep the voice fresh throughout the day.

During COVID-19, Protecting Our Voices in a Virtual World

Timing is critical when it comes to serving children birth to three and their families. Now, COVID-19 is making the process even more challenging for audiologists and speech-language pathologists. (1:45) Audiologist Karen Munoz shares three common COVID-19-related EI difficulties she’s hearing about from audiologists--and strategies you can use now to handle them. (14:06) Then speech-language pathologist Arlene Stredler Brown joins us to talk telepractice in early intervention. We discuss the good and the bad: the technical challenges but also the opportunity to promote family-centered care and coaching.

It's a Critical Period: COVID-19 and Early Intervention

In his latest book, “Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World,” author and journalist David Owen (The New Yorker) writes, “Deafness is expensive. Earplugs aren’t.” ASHA Voices speaks with Owen about his recent book, and what he’s learned about our noisy world. Then, we’re joined by audiologist Vickie Tuten to discuss occupational hearing hazards and how fit-testing hearing protection can help ensure that hearing protection is used correctly. Plus, we’ll hear from public health expert Rick Neitzel, principal investigator in the Apple Hearing Study. As part of this research partnership between Apple and the University of Michigan, he's collecting data on noisy environments and headphone volume. The hope is this research could influence policies that one day change how our world makes noise.

Our Noisy World's Toll on Our Ears

A show about how we communicate and how that communication changes our lives.

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ASHA Voices

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