Liam Hamm is a delightful and precocious five year old boy. He lives in Tempe, AZ with his parents, Ron and Katherine Hamm, and his two sisters, Mia and Sarah. Liam’s interests include reading, “peer mentoring”, and assuming the role of his alter ego, Superman.
Liam began attending the Infant Child Research Program (ICRP) at the Arizona State University (ASU) in January 2006; he was two years old at initial placement. He had an initial diagnosis of speech-language delay with deficits in auditory processing and pragmatic language skills. He had tubes placed bilaterally due to ear infections; however, hearing testing showed normal hearing bilaterally. His articulation skills are good to excellent. His receptive and expressive language skills are within normal limits according to the CELF-P: 2.
Liam has been at the ASU ICRP for three years and has made
tremendous progress through both the Toddler Playgroup and the
Preschool Program. His current goals include working on
social-emotional and pragmatic skills as well as pre-literacy skills,
such as writing and reading comprehension. Liam has moved “faster than
a speeding bullet” with his communication and pre-literacy skills. He
has become an excellent communicator and is truly a delightful child.
His personality motivates his preschool team to come to work because of
what he may say next. They are confident that in his future academic
endeavors, he will be “more powerful than a locomotive” and “able to
leap tall buildings”.
On April 28, 2008, the Arizona State Board of Education gave final approval to recommended changes in Administrative Certificates. There are three levels of Administrative Certificates in Arizona: the Supervisor Certificate, the Principal Certificate and the Superintendent Certificate. The one most directly affecting speech-language pathologists is the Supervisor Certificate. In the past, three years of teaching were required, along with a valid teaching certificate, to obtain the Supervisor Certificate. With the newly approved changes, experience as a speech-language pathologist and the speech-language pathologist certification will count toward meeting the requirements of the Supervisor Certificate. These changes will also apply to certified school psychologists and school guidance counselors, in that all of us are now certified under the category of “Other Professional Certificates.”
The new requirements to obtain a Supervisor Certificate are:
a valid speech-language pathologist certificate in Arizona (in your case);
a master’s or more advanced degree;
three years experience as a school-based speech-language pathologist (or teacher);
completion of a program in educational administration, consisting of at least 18 semester hours of coursework in educational administration, to include three hours of school law and three hours of school finance;
a practicum in educational administration or two years verified educational administrative experience;
a passing score on the Arizona Administrator Proficiency Assessment;
fingerprint clearance card;
45 clock hours of SEI training (with 45 more within 3 years);
SLPA Licensure Bogged Down: Make your voice heard!
Saturday, 16 May 2009
As many of you know, due to severe budgetary concerns, Arizona’s Governor placed a moratorium on all rule making activities. While the SLPA legislation was passed in 2006, the rules were not finalized. The result of this moratorium is that no SLPA’s can be licensed in the State of Arizona, even though many have met the appropriate training and educational requirements.
April 30, 2009 Arizona Department of Health Services made an exemption request for the SLPA rules. To date, there has not been a response from the Governor’s office regarding this exemption request.
For those of you who are so inclined, below is a link to send Governor Brewer a message about the need for SLPA licensure:
The incredibly famous silent auction will return to the ArSHA Annual Convention. This event will be located in the exhibit room of the Fiesta Resort in Tempe. The auction items will be on display Friday, May 1 from 7:30am until 5:00pm and again on Saturday, May 2 from 7:00am until 12:45pm. There will be over 40 items on which to bid-- surely something to please everyone.
The highest bidders may pay for and pickup their items on Saturday from 2:45pm to 4:15pm. Please bring your cash and/or checkbook, because these are the only methods of payment accepted by ArSHA. Debit and credit cards cannot be accepted. (So remember to stop off at the ATM or dig out that checkbook.)
Let the bidding begin….to support the works of our professional association.
Karen LaBrozzi, ArSHA Public Relations Chair
ArSHA Executive Board Election Results
Wednesday, 01 April 2009
The votes have been tallied and the results are:
President: Debra Venkatesh President-Elect- Jeffrey Meeks Treasurer- Kari Watson
Write in candidates have been received for Publications Chair, Audiology Representative, Program Chair (2010), and Program Chair Elect. According to the ArSHA by-laws, Article VII2e, “In the case that there are no nominees for an Executive Board position and/or standing committee position, appointments shall be made by the President of the Association and accepted by majority vote of the Executive Board”.
There was a tie in vote for Membership Chair. The ArSHA by-laws state, “In the case of a tie vote for any office, the remaining members of the newly elected Executive Board shall vote by written ballot. The candidate receiving a majority of the Executive Board votes shall forthwith be declared the winner. In case of a tie in voting by the newly elected Executive Board, the current Executive Board shall vote by written ballot; the candidate receiving the majority of these votes shall forthwith be declared the winner.”
What an exciting finish! Thank you for casting your vote!
Sincerely, Lori Taniguchi ArSHA Past President
In Memory of Thomas J Hixon, PhD, CCC-SLP
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Thomas J Hixon
On March 21, 2009, we lost our friend, colleague, and mentor, Thomas J Hixon, PhD, CCC-SLP. His distinguished career was as a scientist, research director, and teacher in the department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and as an administrator at the University of Arizona.
After graduate school at the University of Iowa, a postdoc at Harvard,
and a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin, Tom came to the
University of Arizona in 1976. During his tenure, he wrote
approximately100 publications, including several books, the most recent
of which was published, with coauthors Drs. Jeannette Hoit and Gary
Weismer, in 2008. He was honored for his extraordinary contributions
as a journal editor with the Council of Editor's Award for Publication
Contributions to the Association by the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association. He was also awarded Honors of
the Association by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,
the highest recognition bestowed.
Implementation Time-line for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Monday, 09 March 2009
February 17, 2009
H.R.1, signed in to law (P.L.111-5)
March 6, 2009
U.S. Department of Education releases “Fact Sheets” on ESEA,
IDEA, and SFSF
March 31, 2009
50% of IDEA, Part B ($5.65 billion) and Section 619 ($200 million) funds
awarded to the states. At least 50% of IDEA Part C ($250 million) funds
will be made available. Governors eligible to apply for 67% of State Fiscal
Stabilization Funds (SFSF) ($32.5 billion).
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L.111-5) Resource List
Sunday, 08 March 2009
From the White House:
Recovery.gov is a website that lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going. There are going to be a few different ways to search for information. The money is being distributed by Federal agencies, and soon you'll be able to see where it's going -- to which states, to which congressional districts, even to which Federal contractors. As soon as we are able to, we'll display that information visually in maps, charts, and graphics. http://www.recovery.gov/
From the U.S. Department Of Education
OVERVIEW OF THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009. This historic law provides more than $100 billion dollars over the next two years to save education jobs, send young people to college, modernize America's classrooms, and advance education reforms. Information on education provisions in the law can be found below. http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html
Dear ArSHA Members! Do you know someone who has done something outstanding in the field of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology? Remember you can nominate those people for the following awards:
