Action | Practice by assistant speech-language pathologists |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 1/28/2015 |
Dear Colleagues on the Board of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology,
Thank you for providing a forum for concerned professionals to provide input regarding the regulation of speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The regulation of the qualifications necessary to become a SLPA and the way in which licensed speech-language pathologists (SLPs) supervise and work with the SLPAs has tremendous ramifications for our profession. More importantly, careful regulation is necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the people we provide our services to.
The call for public comment requested input about ideas that need to be considered during the development of the practice of assistant speech-language pathologist proposal. As regulations are considered, please consider the following ideas:
The inclusion of SLPAs in the everyday practice within the field of speech-language pathology has the potential to improve the quality of the services that SLPs provide by allowing more concentrated care. Conversely, without vigilant attention to the structure of the scope of practice for the SLPA the potential for harm to come to the people who need us the most is profound.
We are grateful for your careful consideration of the regulatory actions that will protect us, the licensed SLPs, and most importantly the people of the Commonwealth whom we serve.