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From: Vivian Sisskin
Date: 16 Oct 2010
Time: 16:15:18 -0500
Remote Name: 96.241.144.161
I am not defending ASHA, but we all need to take some responsibility. What ever happened to the idea that professionals should not treat a disorder that they do not feel comfortable treating? Standing up to one’s employer or “doing the right thing” as a private practitioner? I have a child with autism. At the beginning of a new school year he was put in an “autism class” with a teacher who had just graduated from a local college with a teaching degree in science! When the classroom exploded, and the students were in physical danger, I (as a parent) went in to help and restore things to a working classroom. I asked the teacher and her supervisors why she was given that assignment. She (and they) said, “she was qualified”. I asked her if she felt qualified to teach adolescents with autism, and she replied, “no, but they told me I was”. Shouldn’t she know better?? Do we take every job we are offered? No, I will not agree to be a fire swallower even though I am qualified. Many SLPs who specialize in stuttering may not feel comfortable doing swallowing therapy. We don’t do it because our mistakes can be dangerous to the patient. Perhaps the administrators (and SLPs themselves) do not think that they can harm a PWS with poor treatment? But we know they can, especially if they are taught techniques that turn into struggle behaviors, promise them cures, or blame them for not practicing enough when the outcomes are poor. There are over 120,000 SLPs who belong to ASHA. The last part of this portion of the ASHA Code of Ethics should be guiding us: Individuals shall engage in only those aspects of the professions that are within the scope of their professional practice and competence, considering their level of education, training, and experience.