We are discussing the biggest challenges that are currently holding back the field of speech language pathology.
We present the issues with facts and invite you to be part of joining our movement to make things better one conversation at a time,.
Let's fix SLP.
Alright, welcome back everybody to fix SLP. This episode we're going to talk about if you're able to just stop paying for the CCC. And I just want to preface this, we've said this before, but we'll repeat it again, that at this moment, you have to be in really a position of privilege to be able to drop the seas. Which is ironic, because it used to be a position of privilege to be able to obtain the CS. So really like unless you are in a state that doesn't require it to get a state license or your employer doesn't require it. And you're not going to be changing jobs or moving to different states. Unless you have like a financial backup plan or a person in your life, you're really not in a position to be able to drop it. So like, for example, I plan to drop the seas this year. But that's a position of privilege as a business owner, and somebody who currently holds PRN positions that don't require the CS. So I don't want to be like I did it. So you can't do because that is not the reality that is in our field right now. So really, like you have to consider your situation. The first question to ask yourself is does my employer require it? And so if they do, are you able to have a conversation about dropping that requirement? And we talked about that in episode number one, and you can find a template for that conversation on fixslp.com?
If they don't require it are like... How comfortable do you feel in that job and how secure is that job are you going to find yourself in an unexpected situation where you have to switch jobs and really nobody can predict that.
But if you have any kind of financial backup plan or person in your life, that would get there would buy you a little bit of time. So let's say you decide to stop paying for the seas. And then you unexpectedly had to switch jobs in the required the CS and they weren't really willing to budge on that. In order to reinstate your CS, you need to show proof of continuing education for the time that's lapsed. And then you also need to retake the Praxis or provide a passing score that's within the last five years. So you would just need a little bit of time to be able to do that. And so again, that's where if you're in a financial situation where you're not going paycheck to paycheck and job to job, and you have the capacity to do that, if needed,then you could consider dropping your Cs.
The next thing you might want to ask yourself is does your state licensing board require it to become licensed as an SLP? This is only relevant to new grads. People who hold the license don't have to hold the CCC to maintain it only to qualify for it for the first time.
So something to think about can you get this changed in your state's licensing board regulations. We also talked about that in episode one. That's not something that will be able to be changed overnight. This is going to be a long process, completely possible process. But it's something that's going to take work particularly from the people who live in the States where it is required. So that's something to think about.
I would say that we do have this interstate compact coming out. I think in the next 12 months, it's my understanding it will start rolling out. I don't think people quite understand that plan. But the rollout plan to my understanding is that it is going to roll out in the order in which the States entered the compact. So the first state that signed up to be a part of it will be the first one who's able to take part and so forth. So it's going to be a slow rollout process. It's it's not as if they're going to say okay, everybody sign up and then everybody signs up. So that is coming, which will at this point not require you to have the CCC to be licensed in multiple states.
But there are multiple people monitoring that. And if they try to tie the CCC into it, people will be hearing about it. But as of right now, it does not appear that you will need to have your CCC to be a part of the interstate compact. We'll see.
Yeah. And SLPs need to be aware that ASHA is dumping millions of dollars into that. And so what's their motive, we don't really know. And I was talking to a friend who's a psychologist, and he pays for a state license. And then he also pays for the inner, the psychology interstate compact. So it would be two, it could potentially be two different fees.
But that'll also be interesting because state licensing boards are going to start having to compare and contrast requirements. And so there's going to be perhaps more conversation about what those should look like. And again, that's why we're kind of monitoring situation to make sure that the sees don't become the, quote, gold standard of what it means to be in a call back to Episode One, call back Cisco listen.
Okay, the third question you want to consider is, are you supervising students? And if you are, are any of those students likely to become SLPs? Who want to apply for and pay for the CCC? If that's the case, then yes, you need to have your CS. And my only question here is, can we talk about how pyramid schemes work? Or can we just leave it to the imagination of
I love that pyramid scheme? The current status of things? Why don't why don't you explain it? Megan, for those who don't understand.
Oh, what a pyramid time is okay. But how does this example? How does this example apply to this situation? We've only been recording for like six minutes. So we have time go for it. Yeah, so pyramid schemes, also known as MLMs, or multi level marketing schemes, also known as network marketing, also known as whatever other phrase they can come up with to make it not sound like a pyramid scheme is when somebody is kind of lured into buying a product with the promise that if they buy that product, they will then be able to benefit from that product by making money off of it. So usually, that means buying the product and then selling the product to other people. And so the people at the top of the pyramid make a lot of money because they're getting these and kickbacks from all the people below them that are selling the product.
So while the C's are not technically a pyramid scheme, it is odd that, again, like we talked about in episode number one, where there's this conflict of interest between the fact that Asha, both accredits university programs, and sells a certification product. And it's unfortunate for our field that the two are so intertwined right now. And really, what needs to happen is that conflict of interest needs to completely go away, there needs to be completely separate standards. And the CCC should in no way, be required, or be intertwined with the regulations or requirements of being a supervisor in a in an accredited grad school program.
But it's not illegal, what ASHA is doing, they're not technically saying that the CAA requires supervisors or faculty to have the C's. They're only saying that the certification requires them. So and that's what we're finding a lot with Asha is sort of these very, very fine lines. And like they have excellent legal counsel that's telling them, you know, what's, what's the boundary? What's the edge? Like, I have a toddler right now who's constantly like, what is this boundary? How far can I push it? And that reminds me of Asha of just like, how far can we legally push this boundary? So that we can insert ourselves in as many places as possible and make ourselves quasi required in as many places as possible without technically violating any rules or federal laws? So
So would it be legal and and should faculty members like me be telling students that we should have the CCC is that lead? No. No. Why?
Again, because it's a conflict of interest. So the way that so grad programs are set up to provide students with the degree. And the degree is what they need to ultimately get a state license. So they need to be informing students of how to get a state license. And if they're going to be telling students that a CCC is required, then they need to be telling students that a vital stim certification is required, they need to be telling students that LSVT loud certification is required. And I don't know there's like a billion other certifications in our field, like they need to be telling they they either need to say that all certifications are required, or none. And right now, it should be none. So it is not ethical for faculty to be saying you need your sees the situation right now, as most people are, most faculty members have enough experience that they got their degree at a time when state licensing boards did not exist. And so it was drilled into them that they needed the seeds, because again, that was the only way to regulate the profession. And so we have faculty who have a lot of outdated information who are not informed about how state licensing boards work, who are not informed about, you know, the ongoing sort of disaster, like show, that is certifications in the field of speech language pathology. So certifications are a huge problem in our field, a lot of companies prey on SLPs insecurity, they are overpriced, they require, you know, like renewal fees all the time, there's not always like hands on training that goes on. None of these things are regulated. Like even if a certification company will get a certification accredited, it's accredited by a company that accredits you know, beach body, like it's not, it's not, it's not any sort of SLP body that's, quote, regulating this. And what SLPs need to understand is that certifications are regulated by SLPs. If we buy the product, we are selling our names and saying that this product is worthy and valid. And the more people that buy a certification, the more quote, regulated it is, because we all perceive it as required. And so if SLPs just stop buying certifications, and they're like, listen, like I spent so much money on continuing education, I pay a mentor to help me, you know, figure out the things that are my weaknesses, I have to pay my state licensing board, like the last thing I need is like this ongoing sort of subscription model of certification products, then they're just going to go away, because they're not making any money off of us. And I think, again, this like goes back to why the CCC conversation is so important is because SLPs feel like we're being told what to do all the time. And we feel like we don't have a voice or we feel like we don't have a seat at the table. We feel like we're not good enough to be here. We don't know what we're doing. And so certifications are very attractive to SLPs. Because it's sort of this illusion of like, if I just buy this certification, if I just have these extra letters after my name, I'll be taken seriously, like, I'll be long here, I'll be able to have a voice. People will believe me. And it's like, not like those are all things that intrinsically belong to us without certifications. Sothat was a lot of soapbox comments.
It was it was so good, though. And I again, I had a thought that I didn't write down.
It was so good. It'll come back.
But yeah, just to kind of wrap this up for people who are asking themselves and especially students or people who are in that kind of a hard to navigate period where you're getting your CFA or you're trying to figure that out like, this is probably not the time to be making the choice to drop the seas, just because there's so much unknown, but at the same time, like if you've asked yourself these three questions, and you feel confident that you don't need it, and you're not afraid of retaking the Praxis because we shouldn't be because it's a test. Like if we have years of experience, we shouldn't be afraid of taking a test that demonstrates that knowledge, then you can let it go. But ultimately, it's very much a personal decision and nobody should tell you what to do. And if nobody like no SLP listening to this should ever feel pressured or like they're less than if they pay for the CS, or they're less than if they dropped the CS. Like, I think right now all of this is so new and this conversation is so raw and triggering for people that like we just need to process this collectively together and kind of get through understanding the facts. And once we have the facts, we can make better choices. But right now is probably as fast. So if you're a student or a CFY, it's not a time to be making this decision.
Yeah. But if you are someone who has the Cs, and you're planning to let them go, we want to hear from you. And if you do actually do it in, you know, come time in January we, we want to hear, we want to hear your personal stories.
If you're someone who has already let them go, we definitely want to hear from you. Because we will be putting together an episode of the stories of those clinicians and how they have continued to win in the field without their seats.
And yeah, this is just a safe space. There's no judgment coming from us. But we do want to highlight people who have made that difficult decision and continue to practice.
Yeah, because the more that we can all hear those stories, I think the safer it makes us for the rest of us to be able to make that choice whether we drop them or not. I think just opening the idea that people have done it and like they have gone up in flames. And what's interesting to me is like when I started posting about all this at the therapy and sites, Instagram, I was getting all these messages from people that were like, I've been so ashamed that I don't have the seeds, like I this is something I'm so glad you're talking about because it's something I've just stopped talking about with SLPs. BecauseI feel so judged for not having them. And I think like we just want to take the stigma away from having them or not. And again, like promote the SLPs have choices, like you have a choice, you have a voice, you get to make decisions, nobody's dictating anything for you.
And part of making that choice is sending a message to ASHA, that if they're going to be a national association, that represents our best interests, they need to be a national association that doesn't silence comments, that listens to SLPs, that has like, you know, their town hall meetings or whatever, where they're actually accepting live questions. And addressing those questions in real time, rather than like posting text responses to fake questions that they come up with. Like, there's just so many ways that Asha, degrades the dignity of SLPs by not taking them seriously. And whether you keep the seas or you let go of the seas, either choice is a choice. And that's how we're communicating to Asha that we need to be taken seriously because we have that choice. And as soon as SLPs realize that, and as soon as we embody that power, no matter the choice that we make, that's one thing, just the energy of our field is going to shift and the energy of the relationship with our national association is going to shift. And they may be they'll decide to become more accountable to what we need, and they're gonna do, they're gonna take action about SLP pay, they're gonna take action on workload caps, they're gonna take action on, you know, Medicare reimbursement cuts, and all of these things that are huge problems in our field that aren't, they're not doing anything about. So that's ultimately where this conversation is going is it's it's not just a question of should I keep this user or not? It's really a conversation of finding our voice finding our choice and in using that power.
So in other words, they need to stop telling us to cry in our car, and advocate for us for all of those issues.
I feel so bad for whoever wrote the ASHA Leader article..
I'm sure they didn't mean it. But also like, why would you write that? Why would you do that?
I know, but I so if they do those things, they're going to gain our trust back. There is a very large part of our community that just doesn't trust Asha at this point. And so they need to put in the work to show us that they're here for us to show us that they have our backs, and that being a part of their organization has benefit and value to us. Yeah, if they do that. Well, we'll all get back on board.
Yeah, so it reminds me of like, children. This is a weird analogy. I'm into weird analogies today. But like, it's like SLPs are these kinds of kids that have grown up, right, like our profession is grown up and we're fully regulated, that's a huge milestone for a profession, and it should be celebrated. And it should be talked about and like out in the open and like, everybody acknowledges that we've achieved this amazing feat as a profession. But instead like, it's like we have these parents that are very authoritative and like secretive and like punishing, and they don't let us talk back and they, you know, enforce all of these rules that we don't understand, and we can't we're not allowed to question why. And now we're adults. And it's like, there's this reckoning happening with the sort of parent authoritative figure of like, what you did to us was not okay. It was abusive, it was dismissive. It did damage to us personally. And it did damage to our field as a whole. And we're having to grapple with that. And the ways that we relate to each other and the ways that we talk to each other, and the ways that we think and the ways that we treat patients and families like that kind of energy that authoritative, do not talk back to me, you don't get a say in the matter like that energy has a huge cost and huge price. And that's the reckoning that we're having having right now. And I do think there's hope for those kinds of relationships to repair like what you're saying. But it takes time. And ASHA does have to do the work to earn the trust and earn the respect. And it's a mutual conversation. And it's a mutual trust. And it's a mutual respect, and it's not going to be a one way conversation anymore.
Every time I think about this, I just giggle but I, the person will remain nameless, but one of our friends and colleagues once referred to Asha, Big Daddy ASHA, that SLPs are largely waiting for a big daddy Asha to come and save them. And that's, I love her. You know, that's not the way that the system is set up right now, that is not going to happen. They are showing us that's, that's not going to happen based on the what 2.2% of funds that they're putting into lobbying and advocating, and they are not coming to save us. We have to be the princesses and princes who saved themselves.
So, but perhaps they'd like to join beside us, as we're, you know, marching forward to save ourselves. And, and yeah, and then we come together and we do it together for the benefit of our profession, that should not go away. Because let's not even get into the accrued encroachment issues that are happening right now because of lack of lobbying and advocacy. That, you know, we're being pushed out where you know, there are companies actively training OTs to do our jobs.
Oh, that is a whole episode where I'm just Yeah, it's good.
And I'll say like, if anyone from ASHA is listening to this, this is an absolutely open and thoughtful and kind invitation to talk to us at any point, like, it's part of this healing is going to be having conversations. And if this is a platform where we can have those conversations. Absolutely, that would be wonderful. Do I think it's ever gonna happen? No, but just putting it out there in case anybody's ever listening.
I would commit to leaving the matches at home. I would commit to staying on mute and not not getting fired up. I make. I'm committing it. Now. If they want to get with us, I will be professional Jeanette.
Yeah, but we yeah, we do need to have the conversations because if, you know, when I started my med SLP account on Instagram at one of the things I said was if Asha isn't going to do it fine. We will do it ourselves. And this is, you know, this is the next step for me. And my, my pursuit of advocating for our profession is this, you know, this effort that we're doing here today is a very big part of that. And so them coming beside us to fix these things Absolutely. Is what needs to happen. But in the meantime, we're going to do it ourselves.
Yeah.
All right. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you for episode three.
